Shepherd's Notes

"Thanksgiving"

Thanksgiving is considered the most popular holiday in America for families. More families plan large reunion gatherings with their loved ones for Thanksgiving than Christmas. We can understand that because families tend to remain close to their own homes for Christmas to have their unique traditional celebrations and gift opening rituals. And none of the little ones really want to be away from home and risk missing Santa's annual trip to their Christmas tree.

While most of the people celebrate Thanksgiving once a year, as Catholics we actually celebrate it in a very special way every single day. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is celebrated daily with the Holy Eucharist. As we all know from our catechism days, the word Eucharist is Greek for "thanksgiving!" At the Last Supper Jesus gave thanks to the Heavenly Father as he celebrated the First Mass and the First Eucharist. That was an incredible moment in history with Jesus holding himself in the Eucharist just prior to giving his own flesh and blood to the apostles for their ultimate spiritual nourishment.

The delicious turkey dinners and scrumptious pumpkin pies are superb memorial dishes that we share during the Thanksgiving holiday. The memories that we make are something we will treasure for many years to come. But how blessed are we as Catholics to recognize that no Thanksgiving is greater than by giving thanks to God by going to Mass regularly and receiving devoutly the Holy Eucharist. It is hard to fathom how Catholics who have lost their practice of giving thanks to God by going to Mass and yet religiously celebrate a Thanksgiving holiday every year. No matter how delicious the turkey, gravy and mashed potatoes taste, they can never be a substitute for giving thanks to God without giving him his due worship.

If you know of Catholics who have wandered away from the Mass and the sacraments, explain to them the beauty of the Mass and the Eucharist as the eternal Thanksgiving that our souls yearn for. Invite them to return to the Catholic Church, their spiritual home away from home. The church's new year, Advent, is one week away. This is a great time for those who have wandered away from God to return home. One good confession is all it takes for them to be fully back in the church.

Have a very Happy Thanksgiving and I hope to see you at Mass on Thanksgiving Day. While it is not a holy day of obligation, it would be a great way of giving thanks to God for all the blessings we have received. And I believe that by starting our day with God as a big part of our Thanksgiving celebration, we will enjoy an even bigger Thursday feast once we begin to 'gobble gobble' our meal!

Your shepherd in Christ,

Father Escalante