While our republic prides itself on the separation of church and state, it is curious that this holiday remains in the federal calendar. With American society growing less religious, it is a marvel that this day is still celebrated by our government. Since George Washington’s 1789 proclamation that there should be a day so that this nation could “acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor”, to Abraham Lincoln’s 1863 proclamation asking for this last Thursday be set aside so that Americans would remember “the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy”, this day has been marked not with the usual civil ambivalence about religion but is filled with reminders that there is indeed a higher power than the government or the people, a power to which is due thanks and praise.
Indeed, the act of thanksgiving presupposes that there is someone to thank. We don’t normally thank ourselves for something, we thank others. But whom do we thank for everything? Whom do we thank for the universe, for our very lives, let alone the wondrous bounties that we have received, the numerous opportunities we have, or the freedoms and rights that we possess? While it may be a very weak proof, I believe that this need to give thanks offers us a proof that there must be some being whom we can give the ultimate thanks, the being where the thanks stops here. Who, of course, is God.
While our nation gives today as a day for thanksgiving to the Almighty, we Catholics are able to do more than that. In fact, we are called to give thanks always, as Saint Paul tells us (1 Thes 5:17). A specific day for thanksgiving is not really enough for us. How can it be? When God has not only fashioned the universe, but also been the means of our redemption through His son, can one day truly be enough? When Jesus Christ gave His entire being to be poured out on the Cross, can there really be too much thanksgiving? But how can we do this? How can we offer to God the thanksgiving due Him? We can do it through the Eucharist.
As the ancient Greeks began to convert to the Catholic faith, they tried to understand what they received at Mass. What is this bread that becomes flesh? How can we describe it? The Greeks chose the word eucharistia, which means thanksgiving. But why would they choose that word? Because in the Eucharist is summed up everything for which we are thankful. Everything we need, everything we want, everything we should desire, can all be summed up in that little piece of bread transformed into the body and blood of Christ.
Every time we are at Mass, every time we receive the Eucharist, we are meant to be thankful for all that God has done for us, is doing for us, and will do for us. Every time we approach the altar, we lift our voices in praise and thanks for the tremendous good God has done for us, in our creation, in our redemption, in our salvation. Every time we turn to Him to re-offer that sacrifice by which Heaven is opened and we are set free, the best thing we can do is give Him thanks, to do as the psalm tells us: “Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, for His mercy endures forever.”
Let us indeed give thanks today, first by partaking of the heavenly feast in the Eucharist, then in our humble family feasts later today. Let us give thanks for everything as has been our national tradition on this day. But let us turn to the Lord more readily each time we approach the Mass to give Him thanks for all His gifts and His mercy. Let our lives reflect this thanks by living as He commanded, thankful that He has shown us the way to salvation. Even after we have sinned, let us thank God for His mercy by which we are reconciled to Him and restored to the way of salvation. Let us truly be a thankful people by being a Eucharistic people, a people filled with thanks now and in the life to come.
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