Today's Readings (for Thanksgiving in the US)
And one of them, realizing he had been healed,
returned, glorifying God in a loud voice;
and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him.
Do we realize how much healing we have received from Jesus? How many are the chains he has broken! How great the freedom our hearts now have in him! Compared to when we first met him we have been "enriched in every way, with all discourse and knowledge" and we "are not lacking any spiritual gift".
Our gratitude and thanksgiving can never measure up to all that we have received. But can't we do better? It seems that we sometimes make the effort to be thankful for new blessings we have received. But how often do we take the time to say thank you for all the blessings which we usually take for granted? Let us not limit our thanks today to the food we have today and the family with whom we share it. Let us take some time to return to Jesus with the healed leper. Let us bring our thanks for lives that have been entirely transformed.
We can live in an attitude of thanksgiving. We can have great confidence in God's providence. This is what he wants for us. He himself has no need of our thanks. Rather, he wants us to know, understand, and trust in his goodness.
May he grant you joy of heart
and may peace abide among you;
May his goodness toward us endure in Israel
to deliver us in our days.
If we realize that we are his works, that being itself is his gift, we become capable of living Eucharistic lives, lives of true thanksgiving.
Let all your works give you thanks, O LORD,
and let your faithful ones bless you.
Let them discourse of the glory of your Kingdom
and speak of your might.
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