Thanksgiving Day (in the USA)
This is a beautiful feast for Americans and priests, religious, and lay members of the Eucharistic Family. For many, Thanksgiving is on the same footing as Christmas, as families choose to celebrate on alternate sides of their families for one holiday and then the other.
As Americans, we know we have been uniquely blessed. History has lavished us with countless blessings on material and cultural aspects of life. Even as unexpected trials and difficulties attack our lives, it is clear that compared to the material and cultural trials that people endure in other parts of the world, we have been spared so much. When we list our blessings, they are indeed “countless.” We bow our heads and bless our gracious God in humble thanks.
As Catholics, our Thanksgiving takes on an added dimension, an infinite one, as the Eucharist, the expression of our faith, is the great Thanksgiving of humanity linked with the divine. Now, material blessings shrink in size compared to the spiritual gifts we have received from the time of our Baptism, even until now. We are truly blessed with the gift of faith, the grace of the sacraments, and the love of our community. The more years we add, the more reasons we have to praise and thank the One who loved us.
When Saint Peter Julian taught us how to worship the Lord through the Eucharistic celebration and contemplative adoration, he focused on our Lord’s goodness and relationship with us. He said: “The heart cries out: My Lord, how good you are!! Let yourself be under the spell of his love for you and let your heart cry out: How good you have been to me! We might even say that gratitude should penetrate our whole life!! What is beautiful about gratitude is that it gives us peace and devotion. Thank Our Lord for instituting the Eucharist, and thank Our Lord for his loving intention to embrace the whole world. Thank Him for coming to your inmost being through Holy Communion.” (Teaching to the Servants on February 25, 1862)
Prayer:
My Lord, how good you are! Words are inadequate to express our gratitude. Our hearts are overwhelmed by your kindness. Accept our silence and poverty as an act of appreciation in the name of all those who do not recognize you in the gifts received.
