Thanksgiving Day
November 23, 2023

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/112323-thankgiving.cfm

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And now, bless the God of all,
who has done wondrous things on earth;
Who nurtures us from our mother’s womb,
and fashions us in Lavish Mercy.
May God grant you joy of heart
and may peace abide among you;
May God’s goodness toward us endure
to deliver us to holy joy.

Sirach 50: 22-24

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You’re Welcome

Bill was a big Midwestern guy with the boots and belt buckles to prove it. His wife of thirty years was a patient in our East Coast cancer wing. Hearing of a breakthrough experimental treatment, they had come seeking a cure despite every indication of its hopelessness.

Being away from home, Bill had a lot of empty time outside of visiting hours. He spent much of it observing things that would ordinarily go unnoticed in the bustle of his regular life: weather, nature and human idiosyncrasies.

During one cafeteria lunch, over a bowl of hot soup, he observed, “People around here don’t say ‘You’re welcome’. They hold a door. You say ‘Thank you’. They just say ‘Uh huh'”. Bill didn’t like that. It made him feel invisible. He said it was like one hand clapping.

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In this season of Thanksgiving, it’s something to consider. Thanks are not offered in a vacuum. They are given to benefactors, both human and Divine, on whom we depend for a reciprocity of love, companionship, care and courage. Bill, at such a vulnerable, lonely place in his life, was infinitely sensitive when his thanks received no answer.

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During this special time, we may hear a “Thank You” offered to us. In this cold age of our digital distractions, can we receive it consciously? Can we return it with a mutuality of gratitude that says, “You’re welcome! You are welcome in the embrace of my life. I see you as a unique and precious life and I rejoice at any kindness I can give you.”? A simple, sincere smile can say all that. Such is the power of our conscious spirits!

Doing this, we might even hear the Creator’s whisper, saying the same thing to us as we offer our Thanksgiving prayers: “I have created you from an abundance of love. You are precious to me and I believe in you. I hear your “Thank You” and you are welcome in the embrace of my infinite love.”

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I pray for a blessed and happy Thanksgiving for all of you, dear readers, and for your loved ones. Thank you sincerely for all your kindness to me and your encouragement for Lavish Mercy. May our dear and precious God fill your hearts with peace and joy.

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Prayer: Blessing for the Fullness of This Day – by Pierre Pradervand

I bless this day for the good it already contains,
in the many occasions it offers to listen deeply,
to be of service to others,
to express gratitude moment by moment
and to keep my mind so filled with love, beauty and joy.

I bless this day in the infinite opportunities it gives me to love:
to love and bless each person I meet,
every animal or bird I see,
every plant I behold,
for all are expressions of the infinite Life that breathes in all of us.

Truly, I bless this day for the wonderful awareness it can bring
As I walk through it with the eyes of wonder and appreciation.
Thank you, God, for loving me
And for giving me the gift of this day.

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Music: Thankful by Josh Groban