11/24/2011 – Thanksgiving – Thursday of 34th week of ordinary time Sirach 50:22-24; Psalm 145

       Today, we come together to give thanks to the Lord on a day that our country sets aside to give thanks.  Our country’s holiday of Thanksgiving has its roots in who we are as a nation, of Pilgrim immigrants who came from England in search of religious freedom, of the native people here in America who helped them grow food and adapt to the harsh environment in which they lived.  Giving thanks also has roots in who we are as Catholics, as the very word “Eucharist”, as the celebration that we have as a community of faith around the Lord’s table, comes from the Greek word of “thanksgiving”. 

         Ben Sirach was a Jewish scribe who lived a couple of centuries in Jerusalem before the birth of Jesus.  In today’s first reading, Sirach, who was known for his great wisdom, gives his blessing to the Lord of all, the Lord who has done wondrous things here on earth.  He is the Lord who created us in our mothers’ wombs, who fashions us as we grow through life, who helps us and guides us according to his will.  In our joys, in our sorrows, may we give thanks for the way the Lord has accompanied us through the ups and downs of our lives.  Even in our struggles, we can find blessings, we can find reasons to give thanks.  Many of the young men I meet in prison tell me that they were in worse prisons even before they became inmates, having been imprisoned by addictions to drugs and alcohol, by violence and uncontrolled desires in their lives even before they were sentenced.  By coming to prison, for many of them it is a wakeup call, an awareness of God in their lives, of how they need to follow him in their lives.

In today’s Gospel, we hear of the leper who gives thanks to God today, who recognizes the wonders and the healing that God has accomplished in his life.  As we gather with our families and friends today for food and fellowship, may we give thanks to the Lord for all of the blessings he gives us in our lives.  Perhaps we are so absorbed into the day-to-day reality and the struggles we are currently going through.  Perhaps we need to take a moment to recognize all of the things for which we need to be thankful.  May we join the psalmist in saying, “I will praise your name for ever, Lord”; I will thank you for your mercy and your kindness.