Today, we come together to give thanks to the Lord as individuals, as families, as a community of faith, and as a nation. Our national holiday of Thanksgiving has its roots in who we are as a country, 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 a new environment. Giving thanks is a part of who we are as Catholics. The word “Eucharist”, the celebration we have as a community of faith around the Lord’s table, comes from the Greek word “thanksgiving”.
Ben Sirach was a Jewish scribe who lived a couple of centuries in Jerusalem before Jesus’ birth. In our first reading, Sirach gives his blessing to the Lord of all, the Lord who has done wondrous things for us here on earth. He is the Lord who created us in our mothers’ wombs, who forms us as we grow through life, who guides us according to his will. In our joys and struggles, may we give thanks for the way the Lord has accompanied us through the ups and downs of life. Even in our challenges, we can find blessings and ways to give thanks.
In today’s Gospel, one of the lepers gives thanks to God today, recognizing the miracles and the healing that God has accomplished in his life. As we gather with our families and friends today to celebrate this holiday, may we give thanks for the many blessings God gives us in life. Perhaps we are so absorbed into the day-to-day reality and the struggles we are currently going through, needing 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.
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