Friends in Christ, today is Thanksgiving, and we will hear people say, ‘we should be thankful.’
We read in newspapers stories about being thankful. Being grateful. But I have noticed that few people say Who we are thankful to. They just say, ‘we should be thankful.’
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At another parish, I was asked to go to an inter-faith meeting to plan a thanksgiving inter-faith prayer service. There were representatives there from various religions. The Methodist minister asked, ‘what should be our theme this year for Thanksgiving?’ I said, well, how ’bout our theme be, Thanksgiving is to God. We could remind people that this holiday is about thanking God.’ That seemed to be something we could all agree on.
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The Lutheran minister immediately spoke and said, ‘Oh, we can’t say that, it could offend Buddhists, some of whom don’t believe in God.’ I thought, ‘for heavens sake, then what are we doing here? Let’s just say, that was the last meeting I went to.
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Today our country celebrates Thanksgiving. A true reading of the history of Thanksgiving shows us that this national holiday is definitely about thanking God. When the Pilgrims arrived in America, having survived the first brutal New England winter, they had a meal of thanksgiving. Thanking who? Almighty God.
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The first national thanksgiving was connected with our declared independence from Britain in 1776; the months that followed were very despairing and worrisome times. For much of 1777 the situation was bleak. British troops controlled New York City, Americans lost Fort Ticonderoga, and many troops were killed at the Paoli Massacre. America’s largest city, Philadelphia fell to the British in September. John Adams wrote in his diary: ‘The situation is chilling, gloomy, and very dark.
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But Adams cousin, Samuel Adams spoke with hope: ‘Good tidings will arrive, he said. We shall never be abandoned by Heaven while we act worthy of its protection.’ He was right. Victories began to occur. France took America’s side, and with hope, Congress appointed a committee to draft a resolution. It declared this is ‘A day of Thanksgiving to God, so that with one voice good people may express grateful feelings of their hearts and consecrate themselves to the service of God. It would be the first of many Thanksgivings.
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During the 18th century individual colonies often observed days of thanksgiving. These were not about lots of food, but were usually days of prayer and fasting. In 1789 and 1795, George Washington declared a day of Thanksgiving – to God. In the middle of the Civil War, in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln, proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day to be on the final Thursday in November. Thanksgiving from then on, was celebrated every year by our nation.
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Thanksgiving Day, therefore, is about thanking Almighty God. It is about gratitude to God. So that is what we will do.
Friends in Christ, today in the gospel we are presented with the scene of Jesus driving the money changers out of the temple. What is the Lord upset about here? Is it just the matter of buying and selling in the temple precincts? No.
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Let us think a bit about the temple. The entire temple complex was arranged in various sections. Inside was the Temple proper itself, then the court of the priests, the court of Israel, the court of women, and the huge outer court – of the Gentiles. There was a place for the Gentiles to come and participate, to some degree, in the worship of God.
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Yes, the Jewish people were chosen by God to be the carriers – the guardians of true religion, but God’s goal had always been to ultimately bring all the Gentiles, all people, into his kingdom. As Isaiah 56:7 said: “Foreigners will bind themselves to the LORD to serve him, these I will bring to my holy mountain, for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.”
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The outer courts were a special place of prayer, just for the Gentiles. So here comes Jesus; Christ has come into the world, he has come to die for all people, to bring even the Gentiles to salvation. And what does he find? He finds that this special part of the temple for Gentiles to pray, has been converted into a place of business. The Jews have forgotten about the Gentiles. This is why Jesus is upset. You have made my house a place of business. ‘No!’, says the Lord, My father’s house shall be a house of prayer for all the nations.
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We must not become like those Jews; we must not become so parochial, that we forget about the people outside; it is our mission to invite everyone into the kingdom of God. Those on the outside, other Christians, non-Christians, other religions, everyone – we are called to invite all of them to enter into the Church. The Church is to be a house of prayer, for all the nations.
Friends in Christ, today is All soul’s Day. It is the day that we especially pray for those who have died.
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Praying for the dead goes back to the very beginning of the Catholic faith. What were the early Christians doing in the catacombs? Well, the catacombs were cemeteries. So they would gather there around the tombs of loved ones and offer Mass. That’s what they were doing there. It what we are doing today.
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We read in the book of Macabees, that praying for the dead is ‘a good and noble thing.’ Praying for the dead is in scripture and was the belief of early Christians, and the Jews as well. When we make a big transition in life it is not always easy. Going to school for the first time, going away to college; these changes can be difficult. In each transition we must leave some things behind.
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I watched in the seminary, at how my friends and myself, had to accept leaving some things behind. Also, going away to college, my niece became very homesick, it was a difficult transition for her.
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When a man or woman gets married, there is an adjustment period. They realize they have left some things behind. This is part of life. It is part of growing, but it isn’t easy, so we pray for our loved ones who are going through difficult changes in their life.
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The change from this life to the next also represents a transition, and the leaving behind of attachments. So we pray for those who are going through this change which we call purgatory. Those who have been preparing well for the next life, living the gospel, loving others, doing all for the Lord – for them the change is easy, they have few earthly attachments, and they’ll soon be in heaven.
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But for most of us, we are not perfect, and we will need to go through some purification, before we enter heaven. So when those we love are going through this purification we pray for them. And they will thank us very much, and be grateful when we see them.
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This week, the Church offers two ways to gain a Plenary Indulgence for a person in Purgatory. Visit a Church on All Souls Day, and pray the Our Father and the Creed. Also, this week, visit a cemetery and pray any prayer you want for the dead. This week, you can get a plenary indulgence every day that you visit a cemetery. Of course, like any plenary indulgence, we must received Holy Communion, and confess our sins within 8 days.
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Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord, and may Perpetual Light shine upon them. May they rest in peace.
Friends in the Lord, in the first reading today, St. Paul, speaking about the next life says, that the sufferings of the present time are nothing, compared to the glory that will be revealed to us; then he says: For creation awaits with eager expectation – he says that creation itself, will be set free from corruption, and that creation is groaning in labor pains.
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The next life, the world to come, involves not just God and angels and mankind, but it also includes all of creation. The Catechism teaches this, in #1042, it says: The universe itself will be renewed: The Church . . . will receive her perfection in the glory of heaven, when will come the time of the renewal of all things. At that time, together with the human race, the universe itself, which is so closely related to man will be perfectly re-established in Christ. Sacred Scripture calls this mysterious renewal the “new heavens and a new earth.’
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Therefore, not only will we be resurrected in our full body and soul alive, but the cosmos itself will be renewed, making a Paradise for us with God. As the Catechism says in 1047, the visible universe, then, is itself destined to be transformed, “so that the world itself, restored to its original state, should be at the service of the just, sharing their glorification in the risen Jesus Christ.’ This is why St. Paul says that creation itself is groaning in eager expectation.
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A new student to our school, who previously had little religious instruction, showed visible enthusiasm on his face, when he heard about the beautiful world that awaits us in heaven. We ourselves should renew our anticipation and hope in the world to come.
Friends in the Lord, today we encounter this scene in the gospel where is this woman, totally bent over for 18 years.
There are serious cases of people who are quite bent over, who get older and their spine is curved from arthritis; but if we look at this scene in a spiritual way, we can see that this woman who is looking down at the ground all the time, not able to straighten up and see the world, or take in a panorama of life – that is what sin does to us. Sin takes away our ability to see everything in it’s wonder; we are stuck with our eyes on the earth instead of up toward heaven. We are in pain also – sin makes us unhappy, takes away our hope, and ruins the joys of life.
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But Jesus Christ cures this woman with a touch! Just like that. Our Lord wants the same for us in our spiritual life; he wants to cure our souls of the poison of sin, and he can do it just as simply as with this woman, for us, by means of Confession.
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Christ’s priest – his ambassador sent in his stead, by the simple words of absolution heals the person of even the greatest maladies.
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Sometimes young people, who get into something very bad, and for the first time experience the horror of serious sins – when they come to confession and confess – yes, we talk a little, some advice on how to avoid that situation again and such…. but after they hear the words of absolution – forgiveness –
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I must say, in these cases, I have never heard such gratitude to God in my life: ‘Thank you,’ they say. A lot of people say ‘thank you’, but these young people sometimes say ‘THANK YOU!’ a few times. This is because they know what it is to have Jesus forgive them, and, like that woman in the gospel, to feel the weight removed that had bent them over, so they are able to stand up, straight again.
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There is a beautiful prayer from the psalms that we say in the Old Latin Mass, before Communion, I wish it had been kept in the new Mass. It really expresses this feeling: ‘What return shall I make to the Lord for all he has done for me? I shall take up the chalice of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord.’ Mass is the only place we can make adequate thanks to God, for all he has done in forgiving us.
Friends in Christ, in the first reading today from the Epistle to the Romans, St. Paul says ‘Through one man sin entered the world, and through sin, death, and thus death came to all men, inasmuch as all have sinned.
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He is referring here to the doctrine of Original Sin. Adam and Eve were supposed to have been King and Queen of the earth; Adam, the high priest, offering creation to God. Adam was supposed to be the head of the human race.
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The first man and woman possessed sanctifying grace, the life of God in their soul; had Adam and Eve remained faithful to God, their offspring and all of the human race would have inherited this life of grace; we would have been truly happy, and immortal. Original Man was free from suffering, had great knowledge, and perfect integrity of body and soul. But sin entered the world; there was the Fall, and the loss of grace, and because of that, death entered the world, creation was wounded.
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This loss was for everyone. From that day forward, people are born into this life in the natural state: human, yes, but without the Divine Life in them. And death became part of human life.
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Jesus is called the New Adam. He has come to do what Adam should have done: be faithful to God, withstand temptation, be the perfect human being, and the High Priest, offering everything to our Father in heaven.
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Because Christ is the true head of our race, when he conquers sins and death, he does this for everyone. St. Paul says it: ‘just as through one transgression condemnation came upon all, so, through one righteous act acquittal and life came to all. Just as through the disobedience of one man the many were made sinners, so, through the obedience of the one the many will be made righteous.’
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So this is a summary of how Christ is the New Adam. This salvific act of Jesus is effective for all, available to all, because Jesus Christ is a Divine Person, and in his Person he encompasses all. It is the source of our gratitude and unending thanksgiving, that Christ has made all this possible for us.
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By baptism, we are restored to this grace: sanctifying grace. And eventually, through holiness in this life and fully in the next, we will be restored to all the supernatural gifts of Paradise.
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‘If by that one man’s transgression the many died, how much more did the grace of God and the gracious gift of the one man Jesus Christ overflow for the many.’
Friends in Christ, when we are born into this world, and then soon baptized, we walk in the grace of God, our soul is beautiful. But over the passing years we are subject to the wiles of the devil and the pounding temptations of this world. Over time, we can form bad habits, even vices.
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Habits of lying, gossip, theft, of greed; impure thoughts or vices, or habits of judging or of envy. If we really look into our soul, we discover weaknesses and failings that often entrap us. The saints say that inevitably we are punished for our sins; our sins lead us into trouble, or give us an embarrassingly bad reputation or make us sick over ourself; but our falls also humble us. They can make us better. Our temptations and failings are the reins by which God restrains our human arrogance.
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But we do wish to improve, and overcome our vices. St. John of Karpathos says that the devil lurks like a lion; he lays in our path hidden traps and snares in the form of temptations and bad thoughts; but if we use force against the Enemy – if we expend much effort and time in prayer, we can reach a state in which our mind is no longer troubled, and so attain the inward heaven where Jesus dwells. Prayer and effort will do this, will have us conquer.
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In the gospel today Our Lord tells us of the man who is persistent in his asking for help; he says that the man in the house will get out of bed because of this persistent asking. Each time we fall we must get up again and continue after Christ until we reach him. If we are persistent in fighting our bad habits, and ask unceasingly in prayer, we will receive gifts far beyond what we deserve.
Ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
Friends in Christ, the gospel today shows us the very imperfect lives of the apostles – their failings – before they would become saints. Some were concerned with who is the greatest among them.
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St. Bede the Venerable says that after Christ took Peter, James, and John up Mt. Tabor, when they were privileged to witness his Transfiguration – after that, some of the others were jealous. Something stirred up rivalry between them, but Our Lord teaches that great disciples are humble; they make themselves servants of the rest.
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We are great if we do the unimportant things that God wants instead of chasing worldly honor and prestige. William Barclay explains that there are many wrong motives that people have. Some have a great desire for prestige. A century ago, a doctor wrote about a nurse he knew; for 20 years, she single-handedly served a 10-mile district. He says, ‘I marveled at her patience and her cheerfulness.’ She was never too tired at night to rise for an urgent call. Her salary was most inadequate; I protested to her, ‘Nurse, why don’t you make them pay you more? God knows you are worth more.’ ‘That’s all that matters to me,’ she said. What God thinks. She was working not for prestige or honors, but for God.
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Some people are concerned about holding a high position, they wish to be important, they are always climbing the ladder. Only after many years have I come to realize that some people live only for climbing to a higher position, but it is an endless climb, with no peace.
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Some people work for praise, they have to have it. They will work hard only when they are praised for their work. But what reward is there for us from God, if we work only for earthly honors, position, or praise? Then, as Christ says, we ‘already have our reward.’
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Let us then do all for God; let us live and work only for the honor and the glory of God.
Friends in Christ, today and tomorrow, the first reading is taken from the Book of the Prophet Haggai. Who is this prophet and what is he about?
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Haggai is one of the Minor Prophets, toward the end of the Old Testament. This book has only two chapters and so is one of the shortest books of the Old Testament. It was written in 520BC during the reign of Darius I of Persia, and the theme of the Book is that he is urging the people to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem.
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In 587BC, the Babylonians attacked Jerusalem, killed many of the leaders, and took the people into captivity back in Babylon; this is called the Babylonian Captivity. They also destroyed the Temple, which had been built under Solomon. It was a national disaster.
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For many years the people lived in Babylon, but then the Persians conquered Babylon, and King Darius decreed that the Jews could return home. Returning to a devasted land, the people began to rebuild the temple, but because of a lack of resources they gave up.
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In 520BC, Haggai the prophet began to urge them to take heart and finish the job, which they did, completing the temple in 515BC. The importance of this to us is that God had promised that he would not abandon his people, and that a remnant would remain from the line of David. From this remnant would come the Messiah, and so Haggai saw the critical importance of urging the people not to loose heart but to keep going, because they themselves, and their true worship of the Living God would be what would one day bring salvation, in the Savior.
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He was correct. That same temple was there in the year 1, when the Messiah came down from heaven to begin his mission. But this situation, of the small remnant being the carrier of salvation through difficult and bleak times, is a theme that reoccurs again and again. I think this is where we are today. Yes, there are still millions who say they are Catholic or Christian, but the real followers of Jesus Christ who are ready to give even their life for the Lord, stand for truth and goodness against a pagan society that rejects truth and the moral law – well, I think that we have to be that remnant now, especially in the West; this is our role today in the great story of salvation.
Friends in Christ, a teacher of Scripture once said, when you come to a passage which seems – very strange – be convinced that something surprising is to be found there. Today is one of those passages that often makes us scratch our head. Jesus’ mother and brethren try to see him, they are outside of the house where he is; but our Lord stops and takes a moment to teach. He says, ‘My mother and my brethren are those who hear the Word of God and keep it.’
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Now Christ in no way is disrespecting his mother here, that would obviously be a sin – and Jesus clearly did not have any blood brothers; they probably were cousins or relatives which; in Aramaic the same word was for cousins, brothers, or relatives, and it may have come into the Greek this way. But what do the saints have to say about this passage?
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St. Ambrose says that there is a mystical meaning here. Israel under the Old Law was often symbolized as a mother of God’s people, just as we refer to Mother Church, today; St. Ambrose says, in a mystical sense, Jesus’ mother and brethren – the Jewish religion – is standing outside. He says: ‘By this symbol, Christ is saying that those who enter inside the Church, who follow him, are to be preferred to the old religion of the synagogue which is still outside.
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St. Bede the Venerable says, ‘People cannot enter in where Christ is teaching, if those people refuse to understand him spiritually. In this scene, we see that many people, surely Gentiles, have entered into the house where Jesus was teaching, because when the Jews rejected Christ, symbolized by the mother and brothers outside – when they rejected Christ, the Gentiles flocked to him.
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Those who stand outside wishing to see Christ, are they who insist on the letter of the Law rather than living the spirit of the Law. St. Jerome says the same thing: ‘His mother and brothers symbolize the synagogue and the Jewish Law, which stands outside. Although they had the power like everyone else to come in, yet they do not approach.
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Gregory the Great says, because the synagogue lost true spiritual discernment, it is not acknowledged, and remains outside. Those outside represent the Old Israel, the mother of the nation. They are free to enter into the New Israel, Mother Church. But no longer is the Old Israel the mother. To be the Lord’s true brothers and sisters and Mother, one must seek the Word of God – that is, Jesus. They must hear the Word of God, and keep it.
