Pastoral Ponderings
                                          November2008    


Saint Ambrose wrote that, “No duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks.” Comedian and composer Steve 
Allen said, “The first form of prayer I said was the prayer of gratitude.”

This month America celebrates Thanksgiving Day. It is a day set aside to acknowledge the many blessings 
bestowed upon the nation and its citizens. We express thanks for the nation’s history, heritage, the harvest 
of the land, and the many opportunities our political and economic system provides for the pursuing of our v
arious interests and vocations of life and leisure.

The reflections of the ancient saint and the departed well-loved humorist point to the fact that thankfulness 
should not end on the Thursday of Thanksgiving Day. Thanksgiving is more than just a positive attitude. Giving 
thanks is an active endeavor. It involves recognizing, receiving, and appreciating gifts.

For the Christian, thankfulness directs our affections from the blessings of this life to God, the giver of all 
good gifts.

Recognizing God’s gifts does not always come easily for us. When we fall prey to our self-centered nature, when 
greed and fear become the principalities and powers that motivate us, or when the chances and changes of this 
life overwhelm us, ingratitude all too often becomes our defense. The theologian, Carl Barth declared that, 
“basically and radically all sin is simply ingratitude.” Shakespeare knew this when he spoke of the ungrateful 
child as being, “sharper than a serpent’s tooth.”

The Good News is that God overcomes our inclination to ingratitude with a gift of inexhaustible thanksgiving, 
the gift of salvation in Jesus Christ.

Therefore, every day that the church is called to assemble as two or three or more, we come together, not just 
to feel thankful for what God has done, but to give thanks, to make thanksgiving as we celebrate the Eucharist.

The word, “Eucharist” literally means “Thanksgiving.” We recognize the Risen Lord in the breaking of the bread. 
We receive the benefits of spiritual food. We respond in appreciation with our prayers, praises, and sacrificial 
self-offerings.

Regular participation in the Eucharistic celebration assures us of the efficacy of the Eucharistic Blessing, 
and cultivates and nurtures within the Christian Community the attitude that motivates us to act out our 
gratitude in love and faithful service.

We are a people created to give thanks. We are shaped and sustained in and by thanksgiving. The writer of the 
letter to the Ephesians encourages us to, “always give thanks for everything to our God and Father in the name 
of our Lord Jesus Christ.” In this critical juncture in our nation’s and our church’s history, may we increase 
in such gratitude to give thanks at all times and in all places. It is “our urgent duty.”

Fr. Ed+