Homily for Thanksgiving Day

Today, people all across the United States will celebrate Thanksgiving. As we observe this day of gratitude, we are particularly mindful of the harvest. Family tables will be adorned with squash, pumpkins, colorful leaves, corn, grapevines, and other seasonal decorations that reflect the day we celebrate.

Families will gather to enjoy abundant feasts of turkey with all the trimmings and desserts like apple or pumpkin pie. We will indulge in the bounties of the harvest. In prayer and action, we will remember the poor and the less fortunate. We will host dinners at churches, shelters, and soup kitchens and contribute a little extra to food banks. We will feel good about these efforts.

It is right to celebrate and thank God for what He has provided; it is good to share the earth's bounty and express our gratitude for God's goodness. However, Thanksgiving may feel incomplete, depending on our overall attitude toward life and what God has done and continues to do for us.

There is a significant difference between giving thanks on one specific day and living in a state of gratitude every day. Thanksgiving Day is an event with a clear beginning and end. The spirit of Thanksgiving, however, should be more than just a single occasion; it should be a way of life.

Giving thanks is essential. When we express gratitude as a community of faith or as a family, we are reminded of the many blessings and good people that God has provided us. We acknowledge that we have been blessed and recognize that there is a greater good beyond ourselves. We become aware of our dependence on God and His goodness.

However, the temptation is to return to our independence, to forget God, and to think that we alone are responsible for our achievements, forgetting that even our ability to act is a gift from Him. This is where living a life of gratitude comes in. We begin to truly "live thanks" when we open our lives to God and prioritize Him above all else.

As we embrace a life of Thanksgiving, humbling ourselves before God and acknowledging Him as the source of all good things, our awareness of our blessings increases. Our joy becomes fuller, and we find ourselves in a state of grace. 

Our continual gratitude for our blessings can evolve into a lifelong commitment to living out those blessings and sharing them as we understand deep down that God is the giver of it all. 

As you give thanks this Thanksgiving Day, remember your calling to be joyful always, to pray continually, and to give thanks in all circumstances. This is what God desires for you. In embracing this attitude, you will discover the fullness of what God has in store for you.