Reflection for Thursday, November 28, 2002: Thanksgiving Day.

Abstract

We celebrate Thanksgiving today in the United States. The readings the US Bishops have chosen for our Thanksgiving Masses may seem at first to be in total contrast with the readings that will be read elsewhere today, but I see them as being related. The readings for the Thursday of the 34th week in Ordinary Time talk of the end of the world, the destruction of the fallen and the joy of the believers.||Our Thanksgiving readings tell us how to live today so that we will live for all eternity and be the recipients of that joy that is prophesized for believers at the eschotol.|Jesus says we must be faithful to the commandment of love. To love one another as He has loved us: without limits (he gave his life for his friends), in humility and service (the washing of the feet), by anticipating needs (the encounter with the Samaritan woman, Zacheus), without distinction of person (the scribes, the tax collectors, the prostitutes, Nicodemus), treating others as friends, (I no longer speak of you as slaves ... I call you friends, John 15:15), and with a passion for unity, (his prayer at the Last Supper, John 17).|Those of us who are Americans have so much to be thankful for: our peace and security, our prosperity and productivity, our freedoms and opportunities. Yet not all of us share in these equally.|We need to understand that we all share the same humanity. We all have the same goals of contentment and wellbeing. If we love one another with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience, if we forgive one another as we have been forgiven, if we allow the peace of Christ to control our hearts (Paul's message to the Colossians), we will be able to recognize and promote our similarities and respect and celebrate our differences. How often have you heard this? Is this realistic? How can one person achieve all this? One person cannot, but God can.|Very few of us may be able to be Ghandis, Mother Teresas, or Martin Luther Kings and affect whole parts of society and the world through our activities, but we all have our own small world of 'family' where we can "bear fruit that will remain." All we are called to do is to really try to love our 'neighbor' as ourselves in our own daily sphere of family, friends, colleagues, and strangers on the street. When many individuals are obeying the commandment of love in their small sphere of home, work, and school, the effects will expand to community, state, nation, and the world. The effects will grow exponentially as more and more lives are touched; this is the work of the Holy Spirit. Let's give real charity a chance so that the contentment and wellbeing many of us are celebrating today can be realized for all men and women of all races and languages throughout the world. Then everyone can share the same joy and peace that we are so thankful for today. Lord, grant us your peace!