Yesterday afternoon I visited a man at a nursing home in Macon. He is not a parishioner here, but he is a friend of mine. Unable to speak due to the stroke he suffered a few months ago, I filled him in with what is going on with me, I prayed with him and anointed him. I then sat for about fifteen minutes on the chair by his side as we watched TV.
While sitting there I remembered when I first met him ten years ago in Macon. He was the organist at Saint Peter Claver and Saint Joseph. I was taking my first step in discerning the priesthood. He allowed me to play the organ at Saint Joseph, the first time I had ever played an organ.
As I sat there, I found myself not focusing on the TV show, but rather I found myself lost in my thoughts. I thought of the last ten years, of all the things that have happened and changed. He now lay weakened by illness and unable to speak. I was now a priest. I went through the past ten years and found myself being thankful to God for all his guidance and blessings which took me from point A ten years ago to point B today. Plenty has happened during those ten years that could have overcome and done away with my awareness of God’s presence in my life, yet the light of Christ kept shining brightly and the darkness did not overcome it.
In today’s readings we heard two great prayers of thanksgiving to God: The prayer of Solomon and Mary’s Magnificat. How often do we join Solomon and Our Lady in singing God’s praises in thanksgiving for the good things He has worked in our lives? We are quick to forget these moments where God makes Himself present in our lives, yet we hold on to the darkest moments and memories of our lives such as hurts, disappointments, sorrows and pains. Sometimes we allow the darkness and gloom to take over our hearts – we let them overcome the light of Christ and we lose awareness of God’s presence in our lives.
This Thanksgiving, I encourage you to make a list of three to five concrete moments of your life where you saw God actively at work in your life. We need to remind ourselves of God’s action within our lives so we can thank Him for the works and wonders He has done. This does not mean living in denial over the difficulties of life, but it does mean to give thanks to God for all things.
This morning we gather for this great act of Thanksgiving to God, the Eucharist, where we give thanks to God for his greatest work: the sending of Jesus Christ His Son to die and rise from the dead so we may receive the forgiveness of our sins and have eternal life. When we give thanks to God here at this altar we receive from Him the gift of Himself, his true presence under the appearance of bread and wine. Imagine how different our lives would be if we give Him thanks unceasingly! We would hear, touch, see, smell and taste the presence of God around us at all times.
Let’s prepare our hearts so we may receive Him today with grateful hearts. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Let’s prepare our hearts so we may receive Him today with grateful hearts. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
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