Today America is celebrating the great American holiday Thanksgiving. It's a time when families get together in gratitude for the many gifts we have in our life.
A little history about Thanksgiving: In response to a joint request by both Houses of Congress, on Oct. 3, 1789, President George Washington proclaimed Nov. 26, 1789, as a day of “public thanksgiving and prayer” devoted to “the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be.” If you wish to read more about this, you can go to http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/george-washington-abraham-lincoln-and-thanksgiving/
For me, I am grateful for my wife and my family and the many gifts God has given me in my life. May he bless you with His peace and love this Thanksgiving and the upcoming Christmas Season.
At the 9AM Mass at St. Pancras Father Thomas read part of Abraham Lincoln's proclamation and preached about how in the US many have forgotten God and how in what is supposed to be a Christian nation many seek to eliminate the name of God from public life and relegate faith, religion and God to a "private matter" and how we need to repent and give thanks to God.
ReplyDeleteThis year as Mom and I celebrated our first Thanksgiving without the physical presence of my Dad, who is now celebrating daily thanksgiving in the place of perpetual praise & thanksgiving to God and feasting on Divine Mercy, I prayed in a spirit of solidarity and communion with all who for whatever reason were experiencing "an empty place at the table", especially for the first time, whether it was through the death of a loved one, a "prodigal" child, spouse or parent, military deployment, imprisonment, hospitalization or confinement to a prison, mental institution or nursing home, and for those who could not come "home for thanksgiving". I trust that my Dad is truly HOME for Thanksgiving in the place that is the eternal home for all who have faithfully loved and served God and people in this life.