November 2020
Dear St. Mary Family, In the month of November, we celebrate Thanksgiving as a nation. The meaning of Thanksgiving for us as Christians is derived from the Greek root Eucharist and used in the New Testament almost exclusively in the sense of giving thanks directed to God.
Our Lord in the night in which he was betrayed took bread, “And when He had given thanks, He broke it and said,
“Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me,” (1 Cor 11:24).
We are thankful for many things in our lives, but what greater gift do we receive than Christ Himself in the Eucharist. I get to partake of God Himself. What else can I ask for? Our Lord said in Isaiah 5:4
“What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done it?”
We are not waiting for a future event to give thanks; we are in infinite debt as we receive God Himself.
In one of the annual liturgical fraction prayers the church prays, “the angels and Your creation give thanks on my behalf, because I am incapable of giving thanks.”
All of us offer thanks to God, one way or another, but we do not offer enough. Sometimes, the idea that I can never thank God enough makes us barely offer thanks. However, it should drive us to dedicate our days and nights to praising and thanking our Lord
We usually offer thanks for material possessions or physical healing, but the scripture teaches us many other reasons for thanksgiving. St. Paul gives thanks “without ceasing…” (1 Thess 2:13) because people have received the word of God. He also offers thanks because God chose us for His salvation (2 The 2:13). He gives thanks for the faith of the believers in Rom 1:8 and for the remembering of the ministry of his disciple Timothy (2 Tim 1:3).
Thanksgiving gives the heart joy and contentment. It opens the eyes to see the glorious work of God in our lives. During the crucifixion of our Lord, all of Israel was consumed with crucifying our Lord, but the scripture highlights many small details. They cast lot on the garment, the sign hung on the cross, “this is the king of the Jews”, fulfillment of the prophecy, etc. Likewise, in our life our Lord is vivid in every small detail in our life. The world is busy with big events, but we give thanks for every soul that returns to God, the faith of the believers around the world, the living word of the scripture, and the incomprehensible grace of partaking in the Eucharist.
We praise God and worship Him for all His great work. We pray that in this year we can offer thanksgiving more frequently for the bounty that God has bestowed upon us.
In Christ,
The Fathers of the Church