Weekly HOMILY for November 25, 2010: A Prayer for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day, Cycle C
November 25, 2010
Terranuova Hermitage
November 25, 2010

A PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
BY (REV. MSGR.) NICHOLAS P. AMATO

This morning, I want to do something a bit different.

This year I want to give a meditative homily for this Thanksgiving Day. I want to guide us in a reflective prayer, a meditation of thanks to God.

And so, I ask us to relax and sit up straight, with our back against the backrest of our seat. Let’s close our eyes if we want, but no snoozing or snoring allowed!

Let’s be aware of God and God’s presence. Let’s be aware of ourselves resting with God.

And now, let’s just be at peace and center ourselves on the Lord. The Lord is with us right now.

Saint Paul begins today’s second reading in this way: “We keep thanking God for all of you and we remember you in our prayers.”

Creator God, we cannot thank you enough. No matter how often we pray or how expressive our words are, we can never match in our prayer what you have done for us.

We thank you, dear God, for the world around us – for things great, like the oceans and mountains, and for things small, like the pumpkins and mums. We thank you for human life – for babies and children, for teens and young adults, for older adults and seniors, and for persons of all colors and cultures.

Paul continues: “We are constantly mindful before our God of the way you are proving your faith, laboring in love and showing constancy in hope.”

We thank you, gracious God, for the richness of our faith and the strength this gives us in troubling times. We thank you for the energy of hope that empowers us to keep on the journey.

We thank you, almighty One, for the power of love that inspires us. We thank you for your divine presence even when we may not feel it.

Again, Paul says: “We know, too, beloved of God, how you were chosen.”

We thank you, loving God, for the blessings of my self, the person who is I – for calling, creating and choosing me into this world. We thank you for protecting me from unknown dangers and for not protecting me when a challenge is needed.

We thank you, God, for salvation – for the mystery of your infinite love and for opening up to me an eternity of life. We thank you for family and friends and relationships – for intimacy and love, for mutual understanding and shared burdens, for secrets kept in love and sorrows shared in silence.

Paul goes on: “Our preaching of the gospel proved not a mere matter of words but one of power.”

We thank you, almighty God, for the power of miracles – for the mysterious ways our pains can be transformed into gains. We thank you for the life that springs up unexpectedly each day.

We thank you, God, for those enlightening bursts of insight and inspiration. We thank you for the eternal wisdom of your truth that guides our minds and softens our hearts.

And finally, Paul states: “Our preaching of the gospel was carried on in the Holy Spirit, out of complete conviction.”

We thank you, dear God, for Jesus Christ – the One who is your Son and our brother. We thank you for him who lived and died and lives again and in whom we have the hope of seeing you.

We thank you, God, for the Holy Spirit – for the energy, courage, peace and comfort of your Spirit. And we thank you for giving us each day so that we in return can give you praise and thanks now and forever. Amen!

Readings: Sirach 50.22-24
I Thessalonians 1.1-5
Mark 5.18-20