As we celebrate Thanksgiving this weekend, our readings speak to us of a wedding banquet to which all are invited: of feasts of rich food and well-aged wines, of a Good Shepherd who prepares for us a table of plenty. Images that are familiar to us as we sit down to roast turkey and pumpkin pie – or whatever special food and drink we enjoy when feasting with family and friends. And yet, not all will sit down this weekend to a bountiful table, surrounded by family and friends: the sick, the lonely, the poor, the homeless. What will they have to be thankful for? 

In today’s second reading, St. Paul is writing from prison to his beloved community at Philippi. He is sad to be away from them, and yet he tells them that he has learned to be content with whatever he has – whether hungry or well-fed, whether in the company of friends or alone in his prison cell. And the “secret” behind Paul’s happiness is his grateful spirit, his firm conviction that “I can do all things through the One who strengthens me.” Though grateful for all the external blessings, Paul knew that if he let his happiness depend on these, he could easily be disappointed. It is his relationship with Christ, his firm conviction that his life now belongs to Jesus “who loved me and gave himself for me”, that allows him to choose joy and gratitude even in times of deprivation. 

All of us are invited to share in this spirit of gratefulness in which we value first and foremost our relationship with the Giver, and only secondarily the particular gifts. So for all that we have received, for all that we are about to receive, may the Lord make us truly thankful. Happy Thanksgiving!

As many of you know, I will be leaving this coming Wednesday on a two-week pilgrimage following in the footsteps of the Apostle Paul. Leading a group of two dozen pilgrims, we will visit many of the special places associated with Paul’s apostolic journeys – Ephesus, Thessalonica, Philippi, Athens, Corinth – and will be seeking together a deeper union with Christ, who was everything to Paul. Please pray for us, and know that your intentions and those of St. Monica’s Parish will be prominent in our prayers. One more thing for which to be thankful!