04 December 2015

Thankful Paradox

Homily for Thanksgiving Day
26 November 2015

We gather on this great day of thanks, continuing a tradition that women and men have done on these shores from the earliest days of colonization. But, of course, what we do and celebrate today isn't that much different from what we as Catholics have been doing for two millennia.

Whether we are gathering to give thanks around the table with turkey and stuffing or around the table of the Scriptures and the Sacraments, the act of returning thanks is in itself the least we can do for the Lord in gratitude of all that He has bestowed upon us. In our humility, we recognize that God is God, and we are not, and, in our humility and from the depths of our being, we thank Him for the varied and many ways that He bestows His love upon us.

Yet that is were the words, the canticle, of our Blessed Mother Mary come in to play. As I mentioned in my homily this past weekend, the disciple of Jesus Christ is poor, lowly and humble, just as Christ, our King, is. Mother Church consistently points to Mary in that regard - she was poor in spirit, lowly in disposition and intent, and humble of heart. The words of her Magnificat remind us that it is difficult for us to give thanks to God when we are haughty, prideful, and full of one's self.

When I celebrate the Sacrament of Baptism, I often remind those assembled that the infant about to be baptized ought to remind us of the attitude we need to have before the Lord: that of constant dependency. If we always acknowledge that we are dependent upon our God for everything that we need to live this life, the easier it is to come before Him poor, lowly, humble and broken to give Him thanks. Through her example, Mary not only witnesses to how we are to live that life of dependency, but her words of the Magnificat remind us of how paradoxical the Christian life truly is.

My friends, our souls DO magnify the Lord, and our spirits rejoice in God our Savior. Living the paradox of the Christian life is the way that you and I return thanks to the Lord. As we let go of ourselves and our pride, we increase the chances to open our hearts to be dependent on the Lord. To give thanks to the Lord is not something that we do just for an hour on Sunday or just one day in November, but is, rather, a way of life. It is the way of life modeled for us by Mary, and it is a way of life that you and I are live in a paradoxical relation to how the world expects us to live.

And, so, as we gather this day around the Table of the Word and the Table of the Eucharist - the great Altar of Sacrifice - as well as the dining tables of our families and friends, we enter into the realization that our giving thanks is not only a way of life, but it is a STATE of life. Mary's Magnificat points the way for us to live so that we are always in the state of being thankful.

How does your soul proclaim the greatness of the Lord every moment of your life?

How does your life rejoice in God?

As we give thanks to God this day, we thank and praise Him for not only all the blessings that He has bestowed upon us this day, this week, this month or this year, but we give thanks to our God for the opportunity to allow our lives to reflect the paradox that we receive, we become and we are in the Eucharist.

And, so, we pray:

Father in Heaven, Creator of all and source of all goodness and love, please look kindly upon us and receive our heartfelt gratitude in this time of giving thanks.

Thank You for all the graces and blessings You have bestowed upon us, spiritual and temporal: our faith and religious heritage, our food and shelter, our health, the love we have for one another, our family and friends.

Dear Father, in Your infinite generosity, please grant us continued graces and blessings throughout the coming year.

This we ask in the Name of Jesus, Your Son and our Brother. Amen.

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Enjoy the journey . . .

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