Giving thanks

Tomorrow marks the annual American feast of Thanksgiving-some parishes (including my own) will have a special Mass time to give parishioners the opportunity to give thanks at the Eucharistic table. I have always been of the mind that this is completely appropriate, and that in fact more such opportunities ought to exist in our parishes on Thanksgiving Day-it is the closest thing that we have in our culture to a national celebration of thanks to God in the form of a feast, we have transformed it almost wholly into a secular day-schoolchildren are told that tomorrow is "Turkey Day," lest they be told that tomorrow is Thanksgiving, which would give rise to the clear and obvious questions: "What is Thanksgiving? What are we saying thank you for, and Who do we thank?"

For my part, I am thankful to God. Nicole and I have never had much in the way of material wealth, and what we do have doesn't amount to much, but we have never yet been without the things that matter. In fact, I can't ever recall a time in my own life when the Lord has not blessed me with food on my table, clothes on my back, shoes for my feet, and a roof over my head. Thus far, He has blessed Nicole and I with all that we have needed-and sometimes the ability to bless others as well. We have much for which we can be thankful.

I am thankful for my wife, who has been faithful to me, and who has walked with me on the journey in which the Lord now has placed me-on the path of the deaconate. I am thankful for the friends and the family that He has graced me with who have supported me and prayed for me over the years, and especially for those who have given me the gift of faith in God.

I am thankful for the people of the community where I live, who have blessed me with their trust and friendship, and the firefighters and first responders that I have the privilege to work and associate with.

I am grateful that I am now joined on the journey of faith by holy men of the Lord's choosing whose very presence is a blessing to me. I am thankful for these men, and for their families, and for our Bishop Richard and our Director of Deacons, Deacon Elliott. The Bishop and the Deacon Director have seen not only that I myself may have a call to serve the Church in the deaconate, but that the men who I am privileged to be in formation with also are being asked by the Holy Spirit to step out in faith and offer ourselves in a life of service to the Church and to the people of God. I am eternally grateful for my pastor, Father Joseph Hammond, FHS, and Associate Pastor, Father Alex Waraksa, and I pray for them and their ministry as part of my daily prayers, as I do all of our priests. I am thankful for the example of Deacons Jim Fage and Robert Smearing, and for the lives of service which they lead as an example to me and to many others, and I pray that God may grant me the grace to be that example of Christ to others.

I am grateful for the deaconate formation process, and thankful that thus far, the Lord has made it possible to do and to have all that is required of me in order to fully participate in the formation process, and for that formation to deepen my spiritual walk in return.

So when I eat that wonderful meal tomorrow, I will be thankful not only or the delicious food, but also for the things aforementioned, and so very much more.