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In the United States, we celebrate Thanksgiving in a few weeks. It’s one of my favorite holidays as family and friends gather to eat turkey and pumpkin pie and say thanks for what we have. The Gospel from Luke made me think about saying thanks, about showing gratitude to God and to those around me. I like to think that I would be like that one person of 10 who was healed, the person who came back to thank Jesus. But too often, I wonder if I’m more like those that Titus speaks of in the first reading: “For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, deluded, Instead of being thankful for what I have, for the gifts from God, I look around to see what others have. One way to break free of that foolishness and delusion is to stop, take a breath and say thanks to God. That small prayer of thanksgiving really gives back to me. It helps return my focus to God, to what is important. Giving thanks and showing appreciation to those around me helps keep me centered in God. The Twenty-third Psalm is also a reason for thanksgiving. “The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.” My prayer today is to make every day Thanksgiving, to say thanks to those around me and to God. |