This year we will miss many of the traditional trappings of Thanksgiving. I suspect that most of all we will miss the real presence of those who gave us life and those who make our lives meaningful.
But maybe there is a blessing. It would be a blessing if we could get back to the traditional biblical meaning of thanksgiving. At the same time, there is a challenge to move from” thanks” to “giving”.
Forgotten truths
About Thanksgiving
Among the forgotten truths about Thanksgiving may be the loss of a consciousness of giving thanks to a God who has given us the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We could also reflect on the lack of appreciation of the root meaning of Eucharist, giving thanks for God’s intervention in the Exodus to a Promised Land and, even more significantly, Jesus’ conquering sin and death. Our Holy Eucharist is actually the ultimate “prequel” our secular Thanksgiving Day. Eucharist quite literally means giving thanks,
About Mary’s song of Thanksgiving
The “Magnificat,” Mary’s thanksgiving hymn after the Annunciation, has inspired gifted artistss and countless hours of prayer. But often it is a case of not seeing the forest for the trees. We often have lost sight of her beautiful prayer as a prayer of thanksgiving for “God’s revolution.”
Her Magnificat is a prelude to the whole gospel, and the theme that God respects the poor, exalts the poor, cares for the poor, feeds the poor, remembers the poor, helps the poor. If this is not a revolution, I don’t know what is.
But the Magnificat has been viewed as dangerous by people in power. Powerful leaders in some countries — such as India, Guatemala, and Argentina — have outright banned the Magnificat from being recited in liturgy or in public. They have regarded her prayer as fomenting revolution. Mary’s Magnificat is what some would call a dangerous memory.
From “thanks” to “giving”
Mary not only gave thanks for this revolution. She intuitively realized she was part of the revolution. She did not just sit in stunned silence at all God did for her. If this was God’s way of acting, she intuitively knew she was called to act this way. Immediately after the Annunciation, she hurried up into the hill country to help her cousin.
In this, she anticipated Jesus words and actions when he washed the feet of his friends. He asked “Do you understand what I have done? If you do, do the same for all the lowly and marginalized of the world.
Popes have pointed to Mary as the first and pre-eminent disciple. It took the disciples some time to realize what Jesus did when he washed their feet. “Do you understand what I have done? … Do this in memory of me!” We show our gratitude for what God has done for us in doing what God did for us… loving all our neighbors just as Jesus loved.
We have spent 2000 years struggling to understand God’s revolution.
So the big question for your life and mine this Thanksgiving is: has God’s revolution occurred in our lives? Have things been turned upside down enough that our lives now are dedicated to lifting up the poor, feeding the poor, and actively helping the poor. Has this revolution occurred in your life and mine?
It turned upside down the lives of Saints Vincent and Louise and the literally millions of their followers who walk in their footsteps today.
Living God’s Revolution
- Do we spend as much time thanking as we do asking?
- Do we move from thanks to giving?
- Is there enough evidence to convict us of being God’s revolutionaries?
Thanksgiving is big! There is no greater Christian prayer than to pray in thanks to the God who first loved us! And even though 2020 has been a tough year–to put it mildly–we must be grateful, and express it prayerfully over and over, for so many blessings. And then move to express it in action for others, for the common good. Thanksgiving must be more than turkey! Thanks for this reminder….
I have a lot to be thankful to Almighty God I was born in America have a pension and kids who love me .I am well educated thanks to CM and Daughters of Charity. All my kids and grandchildren .
What a challenge! Moving from thanks to giving. I find myself thanking people all the time, and sometimes even thanking God for all the gifts I have been given. But have I gone from thanks to giving to those who are less fortunate, that is quite a challenge!