Giving Thanks Through the Eucharist

This coming Thursday, as I am sure you all know, is Thanksgiving Day.  The roots of this holiday are deep in the American experience.   The foundation of this celebration goes way back to the Pilgrims, after their first harvest in the New World, in 1621, and attended by the Native American Wampanoag people.   President George Washington declared the holiday in 1789 after a request from Congress.  Thomas Jefferson, who was a Deist, dropped it.  It seems the Deists were rather serious and weren’t much fun. But the holiday finally became firmly grounded by President Abraha
m Lincoln in the midst of the Civil War in 1863.  And we have observed it in this nation ever since.
 
Certainly this year we, as St Austin parish and school, have much for which to be thankful.  We are thankful for the rain that we have been having and which we so badly need.  We are thankful for our new parish ministry center and school, and especially for all the parishioners, visitors, students and teachers (both Religious Ed and regular school) and all others who use these new facilities.
 
We are thankful that unlike so many other places, we are not at war.

I urge you, on this Thanksgiving long weekend, to find some time to stop, mentally count your blessings, and then to prayerfully give thanks for them.  I believe that there is a power in gratitude.  For by focusing on what we have, and the blessings we receive, we are empowered to face the challenges of life (that are always there) with more confidence, more hope, and more drive.  But when we focus on our problems, all the difficulties we face, the many lacks and needs we have, we become discouraged, dis-empowered, and afraid.
 
For us Catholics, the greatest act of thanksgiving is of course the Eucharist.  After all, the word “eucharist” means “thanksgiving”.   Gratitude opens us to the Real Presence of God that changes us who receive the Eucharist into the Body of Christ.  That is a transformation that is truly wonderful.

So on this Thanksgiving Day I wish all of you lots of good food, fine drink, quality time with friends and family, genuine rest and relaxation, and a very Blessed Thanksgiving!  

Fr Chuck