Living Catholicism: The Meaning of Thanksgiving

« The Fifth Catholic Carnival | Main | Happy Thanksgiving! »

November 24, 2004

The Meaning of Thanksgiving

Inspired by the Catholic Carnival, I decided to take a catechismal approach to the meaning of thanksgiving. For many of us, thanksgiving immediately brings to mind thoughts of the feastive holiday that we are about to celebrate. Yet as Catholics it is good to take national holidays, like Thanksgiving, as an opportunity to meditate on the spiritual meaning of whatever is being honored and/or celebrated by our nation. On that note, let seek to understand more fully the real meaning and manifestation of "thanksgiving."

IV. THE IMPLICATIONS OF FAITH IN ONE GOD
222 Believing in God, the only One, and loving him with all our being has enormous consequences for our whole life.
224 It means living in thanksgiving: if God is the only One, everything we are and have comes from him: "What have you that you did not receive?" "What shall I render to the Lord for all his bounty to me?" - Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition, pg. 60

To truly live our faith in God we must live our lives in a spirit of thanksgiving. The Catechism goes on to say:

2062 ....Moral existence is a response to the Lord's loving initiative. It is the acknowledgement and homage given to God and a worship of thanksgiving. It is cooperation with the plan God pursues in history. - CCC, Second Edition, pg. 501

This is a loaded statement, our "moral existence is a response to the Lord's loving initiative", and what "initiative" is that? Grace and the complete gift of Himself. That is why it immediately follows that "it is the acknowledgement and homage given to God and a worship of thanksgiving." So we exist to literally "know, love, and serve" God and we most perfectly do this through "acknowledging God, giving Him homage through a worship of thanksgiving, by the continual living of our lives in "cooperation with the plan God pursues in history." Yet where is this worship most perfectly manifested? What makes the Catholic "worship of thanksgiving" unique?

The answer is in the celebration of the Eucharist. The very word, "Eucharist" means "an action of thanksgiving."

1328 The inexhaustible richness of this sacrament is expressed in the different names we give it. Each name evokes certain aspects of it. It is called: Eucharist, because it is an action of thanksgiving to God. The Greeks words eucharistein and eulogein recall the Jewish blessings that proclaim - especially during a meal - God's works: creation, redemption, and sanctification. - CCC, Second Edition, pg. 335

So in going to Mass, we, as Catholics, live out what we proclaim. The Catechism goes on to reaffirm this:

1360 The Eucharist is a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the Father, a blessing by which the Church expresses her gratitude to God for all his benefits, for all that he has accomplished through creation, redemption, and sanctification. Eucharist means first of all "thanksgiving." - CCC, Second Edition, pg. 343

Our faith is made manifest in the Eucharist we celebrate...literally. And God responds to our "action of thanksgiving" by giving us His Son's Body and Blood, in the Eucharist, that we might become one with God. As Jesus prayed:

"I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me." - John 17:20-21

This was Jesus' prayer at the Last Supper, where He instituted both the Eucharist and the priesthood. He clearly is showing us that it is in the Eucharist that we become truly one with Him. Perfect Christian unity with God can only be achieved in the Eucharist.

The Catechism, in Part Four - Christian Prayer, says the following:

2637 Thanksgiving characterizes the prayer of teh Church which, in celebrating the Eucharist, reveals and becomes more fully what she is. Indeed, in the work of salvation, Christ sets creation free from sin and death to consecrate it anew and make it return to the Father, for his glory. The thanksgiving of the members of the Body participates in that of their Head.
2638 As in the prayer of petition, every event and need can become an offering of thanksgiving. The letters of St. Paul often begin and end with thanksgiving, and the Lord Jesus is always present in it: "Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you"; "Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving." - CCC, Second Edition, pg. 634

So we are to first understand thanksgiving in terms of the Eucharist, but we also must take that gift of thanksgiving that we receive in the Eucharist into the world in order to make "every event and need...an offering of thanksgiving."

This Thanksgiving let us strive to truly be thankful to our God and to take time to make the Eucharist a part of our Thanksgiving celebration. In going to Mass, we will more perfectly manifest our thankfulness to God and receive Him who is our greatest gift.

May the Holy Family continue to bless and guide you and your family. May your Thanksgiving be a time of peace, joy, and love.

Posted by HolyFamily at November 24, 2004 08:54 AM