Thursday – Day of Thanksgiving

Gospel – Luke 17:11-19

Giving Thanks

St. Kateri Center Chapel

And so we celebrate this Day of Giving Thanks!  It is a day that recalls that event 400 years ago when the Wampanoag people (People of the First Light) shared a meal with the Pilgrims to celebrate the simple gifts of life – shelter, the fruits of the harvest, family and friends, life itself.  It was a meal that held so much promise and hope for the future but, even today, that hope for Native Americans remains unrealized and largely ignored!

Forget about all the cleaning and prep work! 

Forget about setting the table and assigning seats! 

Forget about the appetizers and putting the bird in the oven! 

Forget about the mashed potatoes and gravy! 

Forget about that ‘secret’ family recipe for the green bean casserole! 

Forget about the drumsticks and sweet potatoes! 

Forget about the stuffing and the pumpkin pie! 

Forget about all of it! 

In fact, forget about WHAT you are thankful for!! 

Instead, on this Day of Thanksgiving, I invite you to focus on WHO you are thankful for!!

 

Give thanks for the farmers and merchants who provided the food on your table!

Give thanks for the youth who bagged your groceries!

Give thanks for your friends who are there for you even in the worst of times!

Give thanks for that plumber who fixed the leaky kitchen sink before all the guests arrived!

Give thanks for that daughter who guided and nurtured you through illness and anxiety!

Give thanks for that son who gives of his time and energy to help you make your house a home!

Give thanks for the parents who brought you into this world, who loved you and helped you grow and flourish!

Give thanks for that sister who, in spite of all your teasing, loves you anyway!

Give thanks for your spouse who stood by you especially in times of despair and loss!

Give thanks for family members who have gathered with you in the past on this Day of Giving Thanks and whose memory and love we keep alive by adding an empty chair to the table!

Give thanks for all the people we have taken for granted in our lives and who loved us anyway!

Give thanks for all those who have loved you, inspired you, challenged you, corrected you and set you on the right path, who taught you by their example and stood by you in the best and worst of times!

Give thanks!  Just like the leper in today’s Gospel who made the effort to express his thanks in word and in action!

And give thanks to the Creator who brought all these people into your life!

 

GIVE THANKS!  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Favk8UgilZI&list=LL&index=127

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
Tuesday - Third Week of Easter Gospel – John 6:30-35 Knead to Know Cooking Class Over the past month or so, I gathered together a couple groups of my altar servers for a cooking class!   They learned not only my recipe for zucchini chocolate chip muffins but how to make them from scratch!   And, YES, they took home their finished products, or at least the muffins they didn’t wolf down as soon as they came out of the oven!   It was a fun, wonderful (and messy) experience!   Who knew that cracking eggs and measuring out flour could be so ‘untidy’.   But it brought home the lesson that, in order to get those yummy muffins, it takes time, effort and a heaping cup of patience. And it reminded me not only of their loyal service but those long months of Covid when they missed their Mass ministry.   So from time to time during the pandemic, I stayed in touch with them by dropping off goodie bags filled with chocolate chip cookies, zucchini chocolate ...
Read more
Image
Sunday – Feast of Holy Trinity Gospel – John 3:16=18 God Above, Beside, Within Church of All Nations, Gethsemane Today we celebrate the Feast of Holy Trinity, a key church doctrine – 3 Persons in 1 God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit, one of the great mysteries of our faith. We hear in today’s readings a description of those 3 persons.   The First Reading – God the Father, the Creator and Law-Giver.   The God so far above us all that we bow down before Him in reverence and obedience.   The Second Reading – the Holy Spirit – God who brings us peace and love and fellowship.   The Spirit or encouragement inside all of us by virtue of our Baptism and Confirmation.   And the Gospel - God the Son – Jesus Christ – who took on human form to redeem us of our sins and lead us to eternal life.   Jesus who walked the same earth as all of us. Essentially the Trinity is a relationship – the love between father and son and that love so intense that it is ...
Read more
Image
  Friday – 7 th Week of Easter Gospel – John 21:15-19 Following a NEW path Hand in Hand!! Today is May 17 , a memorable day for my family, a mixture of joy and sadness.   If he were still with us, it would have been Bob’s, my father-in-law, 96 th birthday.   But sadly he passed away on April 22, just 6 days after Ginger’s Mom, Shirley, on April 16.   A day full of memories and love, a time of sorrow! And 9 years ago today, I was ordained a Permanent Deacon in the Archdiocese of Chicago.   A celebration of joy and faith with our friends and family!   And a new path to follow in service and in hope! And exactly 50 months ago today (and every day since), I shared with you my first daily Gospel reflection.   A time of pandemic and death, a time of loss and separation! One single day packed with so many memories!   And isn’t that exactly what life is all about – moments of tears and moments of smiles, times of elation and times ...
Read more