In late November our nation invites us to pause in gratitude for the numerous blessings we receive and share.  The ritual began over 400 years ago, before the country was even born, when pilgrim-people from across the Atlantic sailed to the unchartered land we now occupy.  According to tradition, colonists gathered with indigenous Pokanoket people of the Wampanoag tribe near Plymouth Rock to share a meal at harvest time in 1621.  Another thread of history points to the shores of Virginia two years earlier when thirty-eight British settlers arrived in late autumn and made their first act together in the New Land an offering of prayer for safe passage and deliverance from oceanic storms, proclaiming it as a day of thanksgiving and vowing to repeat the ritual of gratitude each year at the same time.  Over the centuries, these two events unfolded into the annual tradition of American families sitting down at festive tables to share a bountiful meal and to offer gratitude together.

Somehow, those earliest Thanksgiving scenes on American soil and today’s thanksgiving gatherings are connected.  Somehow, the Catholic understanding of Eucharist (Greek word for Thanksgiving) in which worshippers gather around a sacred table to remember our Lord Jesus and to be nourished by His heavenly food, and that points to the eternal banquet feast in a world beyond these shores, is also connected.  Somehow, our daily ritual of praying to God and giving thanks for divine blessings and remembering where we come from and all the good people who sacrificed for our better living in this great country is connected as well.

There are many ways to say thanks: “You are the best!  You’re one in a million.  I can’t thank you enough.  Words cannot capture my gratitude.  I wish I could express my immense feelings for your generosity.”  It can be said in many languages: Gracias, merci beaucoup, danke schon, domo arigato, toda lech, gracie, sas efcharisto…  Though words may always seem an inadequate response to the generosity of another, we must start somewhere, somehow.  Adopting practices of gratitude can be life enhancing.  People who embrace attitudes that express appreciation and recognition tend to be happier and more wholesome humans.  It is never too late to become one of those beings.

A good place to start is in our daily prayer.  Think about those people, living and deceased, who went out of their way to encourage you.  Maybe it was a teacher, coach, or neighbor who believed in you or did kind things for you; maybe it was a relative or childhood acquaintance who helped you out of a jam.  If the person is deceased, offer a prayer of gratitude for him or her and pay tribute to that person by doing something generous for someone else who could use the uplift. If those who were kind to you long ago are still living, attempt to track them down and send a note that expresses your appreciation for what they did.  When saying thanks, it is good to go beyond general or generic words and mention specific reasons for which you are grateful.  Though it is better to offer appreciation in person, a card or note is also a worthy expression.  Phone calls, too, work, and email or text will do as a last resort, but face to face expression is best.

There will be numerous opportunities in the holiday season to engage with others in social circles starting with Thanksgiving meals or Friendsgiving gatherings in late November.  Assess your level of gratitude and take a step to being a more appreciative person.  Doing so could lead a teenager to speak thankfully to a mentor; it might inspire an old adult to be more reflective and mindful in prayer; it may help average people become more specific and therefore more intentional in expressing themselves; it could guide us to not take things for granted; it might move us to be more meaningful and less tokenistic in our interactions; it may even help us to unite our lives with those of indigenous forbears, adventurous pioneers, and courageous settlers.  Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to remember and to offer gratitude for the great fortune of being dwellers in this blessed land.

ADDENDUM:  Here are some opportunities to help with Christmas Baskets at Saint Therese Little Flower (STLF) and Saint Francis Xavier (SFX) Parishes in the weeks ahead.  Students that want service hours can come to STLF after school until 6PM, December 2-6, and on the morning of December 7 to set-up, sort, unload, and shop as Christmas Baskets for urban families get created.  You can call the parish at 816-444-5406 for more information.  Anyone can take part in the Cookie Project at SFX by baking and delivering holiday cookies to SFX on December 14-15.  For more details, contact pantry@sfx-kc.org.  You can also donate turkeys or hams or other food items to either site to provide holiday feasts to those with lesser means.  Yvette and BJ, chief elves at STLF, can offer you a shopping list if you’d like.  Tim and his amazing team at SFX will do the same.  STLF will distribute Christmas Baskets starting on December 11; SFX will distribute on December 17.  Saint James Parish will offer holiday support in conjunction with the Bishop Sullivan Center; feel free to contact them, too. If you miss deadlines, don’t worry. Each year, there are forgotten families that surface in many parts of the city. I will help us connect to them through the end of the year and beyond.  Have a blessed holiday season!