What are we truly Thankful for?

Scripture readings for this reflection can be found at http://usccb.org/bible/readings/112416-thanksgiving.cfm 

On this Thanksgiving Day, the question we all must and should be asking ourselves is, “What are we truly thankful for?" In this day and age of instant gratification and fast pace life thanks to computers and smart phones, are we truly thankful for the many blessing that God has given us?

Most people today gather to eat turkey, watch football in the afternoon, and maybe argue about the results of the recent elections. Further, many of us are planning on rushing through the Thanksgiving dinner with family and loved ones in order to rush to the nearest stores for an early start for the Black Friday sales. We tend to forget the things that we should be grateful for.

In today’s gospel we hear of 10 lepers begging Jesus to cure them. Jesus sends them off with the instructions to see the priests. While on their way, they are healed! Only one returns to Jesus in gratitude. What about the other 9? Are they off to party and celebrate their healing? The one that returned to Jesus realized that it was through Jesus that he was healed, and returned glorifying God. He realized that Jesus was present in the healing that he received and came back to give thanks.

There are times in our lives when we may be facing problems, sickness, family issues, and we turn to Jesus to ask for help. We, like the lepers, turn to Jesus to seek help. When we receive a response from Jesus, are we truly thankful for His help?

There are other things to be grateful to God for in our lives, besides being helped through whatever problems or issues we may have had. Many of us have good health, spouses who love us and are with us in good times and bad times. We also may have children that are gifts from God that we should be thankful for. There are times when children can be difficult to deal with as they grow and mature, but as they mature with your help, know that God will bless you for being there for them. We also have extended family and friends that are there for us in our ups and downs that we should be grateful for.

In addition to all the blessing that we are grateful for here on earth, let us, as Catholics, be grateful for the great gift of the presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. In this sacrament we are able to receive Jesus fully: Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. Let us not take the Eucharist lightly. Remember as you approach the Blessed Sacrament that it is Jesus you are receiving. And if you feel you are not fully prepared to receive Jesus in Holy Communion for whatever reason, know that you can approach Jesus in the healing sacrament of Confession. Jesus is always present for us in confession with His healing power to forgive our sins, and He is present to us in the great Sacrament of the Eucharist.

Let us, on this Thanksgiving Day, to be grateful to Jesus for our family, friends, the blessings we have received, and for His presence in the sacraments of the Catholic Church.

Praise be Jesus Christ, now and forever.

Solemnity of Christ the King

Scripture readings for the Solemnity of Christ the King can be found at http://usccb.org/bible/readings/112016.cfm.

This Sunday, the Solemnity of Christ the King, closes our Church year. Next week is the first Sunday of Advent and the start of a new Church year. This feast of Christ the King originated in 1925. Because it was celebrated at the end of October, that month became known as the month of Christ the King. As the age of dictators was beginning, the Pope at that time, Pope Pius XI, wanted to remind the Church that, with all the groups seeking loyalty in our life, our ultimate allegiance should be to Jesus Christ.

Today, over 90 years later, all the dictators whose power seemed so huge and permanent back then, who dominated the world scene as the Soviet Union, the Japanese Empire, Fascist Italy and later the Third Reich are now all gone and Jesus Christ remains. And ninety years from now, the power brokers of our time will be gone and Jesus Christ will remain.

Yet, ironically, on this feast of Christ the King, the Gospel reading shows Jesus at what seems to be his weakest and loneliest, the moment of His Crucifixion on the Cross. But here, Jesus is not at His weakest but really at His strongest. He is not at His loneliest but at His most generous.

Jesus seems to be at His weakest here on the cross but is really at His strongest because here, on the Cross of Calvary, Jesus does what no one else on earth can do. He forgives a man's life of sin and gives him eternal life and entry into the Kingdom.

Furthermore, here on the Cross, Jesus is atoning for the sins not of a particular group but of the world, the sins of all time and places, the sins of His time and the sins of our time. Here, on the Cross, Jesus is absorbing, almost like a huge blotter, the sins of the entire human race. Here, at this moment on Calvary, all by Himself with nobody else's help, Jesus is unilaterally restoring the life of grace to human history.

What looks like a moment of weakness, then, is really a moment of enormous, supernatural power as, on Calvary, a cosmic lock springs open, a wall is broken down and heaven is again "open for business."

The Kingdom of Christ on earth is not a place on a map, that we an locate through global positioning system from a satellite. It is a condition of soul. The Kingdom of Christ on earth does not belong to any particular era, it spans all times and centuries.

On this feast of Christ the King, we look to the Cross: what many saw as a place of weakness became a tower of strength; what looked like a place of loneliness continually gives life to the world.

To be at the Cross, to be at the Mass, is to be at the headquarters of the Kingdom of Christ on earth, the center from which Jesus Christ changes lives and our world, because the sacrificial bread and wine of the Mass, the body and blood of Christ, contain all the power of Christ's Death and Resurrection.

Christ is King not only because He reigns from above but because He reigns within our life. In this coming Church year, we can resolve to keep a crucifix in our home so we can reflect on it, meditate on it, and consult it. St. John Vianney called it the "deepest book we will ever read."

Place Christ at the center of all you do, venerate Him as King of your life. With Christ as center of our life, we have grace and hope for ourselves and others.