Thanksgiving Day 2018 - Harvest Feasts and Eucharistic Thanksgiving

Throughout the course of mankind's history, the Earth's bountiful harvest has been celebrated with ceremonies of giving thanks. The ancient pagans celebrated the fall harvest as particularly important because it was a matter of life and death; the fall harvest was essential for the survival of the cold and fruitless winter.

Each autumn, the ancient Greeks celebrated the three-day festival of Thesmosphoria to honor Demeter,  the goddess of grain, and to plead that springtime, characterized by Demeter’s daughter Persephone, would come quickly. The Romans celebrated their autumn festival with music, parades, games and sports and a thanksgiving feast—making our modern thanksgiving festivities closer to the Romans than the Pilgrims. Israel also celebrated an autumn harvest festival—the feast of tabernacles—Sukkoth, an eight-day festival of thanksgiving following Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement. Atonement proceeded thanksgiving, just like it does in the Holy Mass which begins with the penitential rite.

John’s Gospel records Our Blessed Lord traveling to Jerusalem for the festival of thanksgiving, as he must have done many times in his life. It was on the last day of the Jewish feast of thanksgiving, that the Lord utilized some feast-language and pronounced , “If anyone thirst, let him come to me and drink.”

For Christians, every time we gather at the altar, we gather first and foremost as an act of thanksgiving. The earliest Christians used the Greek word for thanksgiving—Eucharistia—to describe their gathering on the Lord’s Day—to give thanksgiving to God for the gift of salvation, which Jesus won for us on the cross. At the Eucharistic feast, the fruits of the earthly harvest, wheat and grapes, bread and wine, are transformed into the very saving body and blood of Jesus, the one, true Lord of the Harvest. In an ancient prayer the Church acclaims the mystery of the Eucharist: "O sacred banquet in which Christ is received as food, the memory of his Passion is renewed, the soul is filled with grace and a pledge of the life to come is given to us."

Gratitude, Eucharistia, is such a fundamental Christian attitude. Without gratitude, without Eucharist, we begin to take for granted the blessings of our life, we begin to forget about the author and giver of those blessings, we begin to forget about the sacrifice without which the gates of heaven would have remained closed. Without gratitude, without Eucharist, we begin to forget that we are to use the time we’ve been given, the blessings we’ve been given, for God’s will, not our own.

Many of our contemporaries gather today with barely a hint of the ancient or Christian impulse to return thanksgiving to God. Much like in the Gospel today, only one out of ten lepers who had received healing from Jesus returned giving thanks. Jesus praises his faith. Faith that acknowledges that blessing, healing, fruitfulness, life comes from God, is praised by Jesus. In fact, it was only that one whom Jesus pronounced saved, go forth, your faithful gratitude has saved you.

So we rightly gather today, for those with faith and those without, to give thanksgiving to God for the earthly harvest which sustains our physical lives, and the more important spiritual bounty which sustains our spiritual lives, the eucharist, a foretaste of the heavenly banquet to come.

May each of your family gatherings be blessed today, with a deep sense of gratitude to God, may they be free from turmoil, division, and discord, and deepen the bonds of charity between all with whom you gather. May we use the time we’ve been given, the blessings and freedoms we enjoy, to gather souls to Christ, that they may know his mercy, peace, and joy, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - - - - - -
 
That the pilgrim Church on earth may shine as a light to the nations.  We pray to the Lord.

That all people of good will may work together against attacks on religious liberty and the Christian Faith.  We pray to the Lord.

For the protection of our armed forces, police, and firemen and all those who risk their lives to preserve the security of our country.  We pray to the Lord.

For the safety of travelers, the peaceful resolution of all family divisions and national hostilities, for protection from disease, and harmony amongst all those who gather together today.

For the poor, the hungry, the homeless, the sick, the aged, the lonely, the grieving, those who are out of work, those who are facing financial difficulties, those with addictions, and the imprisoned: that God will draw close to them, and bless them with grace and peace.

For the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, and all the poor souls in purgatory, for deceased clergy and religious, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom, and for Chester Trzcinski for whom this mass is offered.

O God, you know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the prayers of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our Lord.