By Thomas Griffin/National Catholic Register
Turkey, football, family and an endless number of pies often fill Thanksgiving Day in America. All over the country, people will gather with friends and family to celebrate this national holiday. While it has become a commercialized secular holiday for many people, there is still so much about this day that is aligned with our Catholic faith. A goal of mine this year is to have a Thanksgiving spirituality.
The first Thanksgiving took place in 1621. It was truly a matter of diplomacy between the Plymouth colonists and the Wampanoag people. They gathered together, with their families, to share a meal and bring about fellowship between the people. Two years later, we have records that the Plymouth colonists gathered for a more direct “thanksgiving” meal to celebrate the rains that had come after much drought. They gave thanks to God on this day, grateful for providential care.
We likewise give thanks — on Thanksgiving Day and always.
Something we can always be grateful for, no matter our circumstances or challenges, is that we can have a relationship with God. We encounter him as a real living Person, here and now. The story of Christianity is true. God became one of us so that we can know him intimately and become more aligned with our identity as sons and daughters of the Father.
As Pope Benedict XVI famously said:
“Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.” Deus Caritas Est, 1
The best way to be brought into contact with that encounter on earth is through the Eucharist. It’s no coincidence that the word for the living Christ that we receive literally means “thanksgiving.” The center of the word “Eucharist” is the Greek word, charis. This can be translated as either “grace” or “rejoice.” Both translations are applicable for our celebration of Thanksgiving. When we recall all the meaningful relationships we have, we are thankful that we are loved by God and by others: first and foremost, with God, who is love, but also with marriage, family and friends. When we think about what is most important in life, we inevitably settle on our loved ones. Our careers, our possessions, our free time can never replace the experience of being truly loved and loving another.
It is the Eucharist that allows us to be in communion with the God of love whose identity is relationship. It is the Eucharist that unites us with each other in such a way that we see the other as Christ. It is the Eucharist that is the greatest gift given to us by God. It was not good enough for Jesus to be born among us, teach us, perform miracles, suffer, die and rise for us. He desired to go above and beyond in communicating his love for us by giving us the ability to truly encounter him, face-to-face, each time we receive the Eucharist. Responding to and rejoicing in this beautiful gift will only make us more aware of all the other great gifts we have received.
As we prepare for Thanksgiving, let us be challenged to reflect on the greatest gifts of life: loving relationships. Let us be moved to rejoice in the gift of our loved ones and the gift of the Eucharist. Doing so will enable us to have our fill of the Thanksgiving feast while being rooted in the God of love — the only One who can truly fulfill us.
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