Do We Include God in our Thanksgiving?
This weekend’s gospel speaks to the permanence and unchanging nature of God’s pledge of love for us. Of course we have been created with free will and are free to accept the offered love or to reject it. It seems particularly appropriate to consider this as we anticipate the coming celebration of Thanksgiving this week. One of the positive signs at St. Brendan’s is that the number of people electing to attend Mass on this non-mandatory date increases from year to year. Some people consider the simple act of giving thanks, expressing gratitude in kind phrases to others or in prayer as more important than the feasting on the plenty of food and other benefits that we enjoy as Americans. We know that even our troops in the field of combat will have special Thanksgiving meals sent to them, and Hurricane Sandy victims who are just beginning to recover from their devastation will have donated special meals delivered for this date. Yet isn’t Thanksgiving more about giving thanks than gorging ourselves on too much food?
The original Pilgrims were escaping religious persecution in England for their faith. These Puritan separatists’ religion began in England under the reign of Elizabeth I, (1558- 1663). Elizabeth was determined to stamp our opposition to the Church of England, (Anglican Church). The term “puritan” was derived from their stated purpose to oppose the English Church and to purify it from its Roman Catholic influences. In the spring of 1621, half of these Pilgrims who had been on the ship Mayflower had perished. The survivors had befriended friendly Indians who taught them to grow harvest from the soil. These Puritan separatists believed in the literal translation of the Bible and hence only celebrated two sacraments, Baptism and Eucharist, considering the other sacraments to be of human invention. The original Thanksgiving feast lasted 3 days, giving God the credit for their survival and good fortune to be alive and building their small colony. I believe that these original Pilgrims, though rejecting our Catholic faith in many parts, demonstrated a sense of God working in their midst.
In our modern day observance of Thanksgiving, to whom do we give thanks? For some it is the purveyor of the bountiful meal elements; for others it is the thought of commencing the Christmas shopping season; still others thank their family and friends; or reflect upon their blessings thinking of them as merited by our effort alone.
What about thanking God ? Thoughts of thanking God for our good fortune, for being with us as we endure hardships, (thereby allowing us to be hopeful in the face of adversity) are not as popular as when this feast began. Let us resolve to restore the gratitude we owe God for never abandoning us and for His providence and love for us that “... will not pass away.”
Happy Thanksgiving!
Fr. Mike
