As Thanksgiving Day approaches, we prepare to give thanks to a gracious God for the beauty and plenty of this great land; for the gift of life; for family and friends; for our civil liberties. Our hearts are grateful for God’s goodness to us in life’s triumphs and trials; for the priceless treasures of grace; for our church and the sacraments through which God continues to manifest such great love.

It is significant that as a nation we pause to give thanks to Almighty God for all the blessings bestowed on us as a nation. It is a public act, a civic observance, one of those increasingly rare moments when the body politic acknowledges God.

For us as a people of faith, it is much more. We realize that true thanksgiving is not only an expression of gratitude for gifts received, but also a giving back of the gift in a new way. Authentic thanksgiving acknowledges receiving, but also involves giving.

As always, it is Jesus Christ who is our exemplar. In his prayer to the Father, Jesus joyfully proclaims: “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to little ones. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.” (Mt 11:25-27a)

In this simple prayer, Jesus reveals that the source of his loving power is his eternal relationship with the Father. In praising the Father, he gives thanks that the Father has entrusted him with the mission of salvation for mankind. He desires to give back to the Father what he has received. The Son gives thanks for all: for the good, the difficult, the big and the small things. This giving and receiving between the Father and the Son unveils in time that eternal exchange of love between them which is the Holy Spirit.

I urge Catholics to attend Mass on Thanksgiving Day, if at all possible. When Jesus instituted the Eucharist, he instituted the Christian and liturgical form of the prayer of thanksgiving. The Eucharist is central and defining for us Catholics. Through Jesus, in the power of the Holy Spirit, the Eucharist is “an action of thanksgiving to God...that proclaims God’s works: creation, redemption and sanctification.” (Catechism, No. 1328)

We are grateful for how God has remained with the Church through many difficult days and how God has provided us with abundant graces from a Eucharistic table of thanksgiving. Through the “inexpressible gift” of the Eucharist, we join Christ in his perfect praise and thanksgiving to the Father on our behalf.

Thanksgiving Day is a perfect time to acknowledge all that our loving God has given us — the joys, the sorrows, everything — and we strive to give back to God in a way that will be most pleasing to our Creator and Redeemer. Our practices of faith and expressions of love of God do this. So does our faith-filled participation in the Sacrifice of the Mass and the Sacraments.

But we also demonstrate our gratitude to God though individual acts of kindness and love. Thanksgiving could motivate us to adjust our priorities so as to spend more quality time with our families and loved ones. We might befriend our neighbors and make an effort to improve our neighborhood, our place of work, our schools. We surely ought to redouble our efforts to help the many people in material and spiritual need in our community, and around the world. We need to be grateful, too, for what our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan are giving. We all need to do what we can to work for justice and peace at home and abroad.

Thanksgiving comes at the end of the liturgical year when we turn our minds to the final things and to the time when Our Lord, Jesus Christ, the Divine Harvest Master, will gather up the bounty of the Lord’s vineyard into the eternal thanksgiving festival of the heavenly kingdom.

May God continue to bestow abundant blessings upon us, our families, our loved ones, and our nation as we continue our earthly pilgrimage.

Auxiliary Bishop Garcia, Bishop Emeritus Quinn, and I wish you and your loved ones a blessed Thanksgiving and assure you of our prayers.

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