Bearing gifts we hear (8)
I believe the answer is:
presence
'bearing' is the definition.
(I know that bearing can be written as presence)
'gifts we hear' is the wordplay.
'gifts' becomes 'presents' ('present' can be a synonym of 'gift').
'we hear' indicates a 'sounds like' (homophone) clue.
'presents' sounds like 'PRESENCE'.
(Other definitions for presence that I've seen before include "Demeanour" , "Impressive manner (of a person)" , "Impressive carriage" , "Immediate proximity" , "Impressive appearance" .)