Thanksgiving Day
As our minds and hearts turn to the meaning of the Thanksgiving Holiday, perhaps you’ve heard some of the following advice:
“The easiest thing you can do to increase your happiness is to list five things each day that you are thankful for.”
“People of all incomes and ages report vastly different levels of happiness, but the amount of thankfulness is a strong determining factor.”
“You can be thankful in any circumstance, because everything is a gift from God.”
Unfortunately, in our world, it’s easy to not be thankful. Consumerism thrives on making us unhappy with what we have, so that we go out spending money chasing the latest gadget, pleasure, or convenience. Our gospel reading shows how a culture can get in the way of thankfulness. The reason only the Samaritan came back to Jesus to give thanks is because Samaritans didn’t need permission from a priest to re-join their families after being cured of leprosy. The other nine knew that even though they knew they were cured, they wouldn’t be accepted back into the community until a priest confirmed it. They couldn’t be thankful because the gift hadn’t been validated yet. Do you even adopt the same “I’ll be thankful when…” attitude?
If the authors of our first two readings felt that way, we probably wouldn’t have these passages to read! The author of Sirach wouldn’t be praying for joy of heart and peace if those were already present. Yet, he blesses God in thanks for the good he believes God has already started accomplishing. Similarly, the psalmist knows that today, most of the ‘kings of the earth’ do not care at all about God, much less feel the need to thank and sing to Him.
Our Lord brings us goodness and blessing every day. The Spirit is eager to accomplish good works in and through you. Christ is faithful. So, we have every reason to be thankful now. My prayer today is that God will give me a thankful heart. May our consumerism and our future-orientation not rob us of the gratitude that is available! Whatever the barriers to thankfulness, let’s give them to Jesus and allow the transformation to happen. Thanks be to God! Amen!
-Chris Nieport