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Exploring the word

14 Jun 2015 - Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

The sower sows the seed. But the seed becomes grain by mysterious means. The sower can’t take credit for what happens once the seed pushes its first sprout into the soil. That’s the work of the seed’s Creator. And it merits praise. The liturgical year doesn’t really have a designated “Praise Sunday.” Praise is the forgotten sister of our prayer cycle. Most of us are eager to bring forth our petitions. There’s so much need, and we have nowhere else to turn! Intercessory prayer, AKA supplication, is a good thing, and we should pray “asking prayers” daily. Our Eucharist, although it contains many asking prayers, is itself a prayer of thanksgiving. If the story of the 10 lepers is statistically reliable, one in 10 of us remember to give thanks for the good that comes to us. But even if we forget gratitude momentarily in the rush of relief and celebration, our Eucharist stands in as the ultimate prayer of thanks. Then there’s lamentation. We don’t usually think of this mode of prayer as prayer. It’s so instinctual and doesn’t seem like a very holy attitude at all. While it’s neither holy nor unholy to lay down and weep, or to lift up a howl of rage or disappointment, the direction of our lament makes the difference. If we lift it up to God—even with its barbed edges and recriminations—it’s a valid prayer. Read Psalms 6, 10, 42, 55, or the famous 22 if this seems dubious. Contrition, often a component of intercession and lamentation, is the prayer of regret that admits wrongdoing. It’s built into the sacrament of Reconciliation as well as into the Penitential Rite of the Mass. Intercession, thanks, lamentation, and contrition have their place in the prayer life of the believer. So does praise, a component of the practice of Adoration. But we neglect this prayer for all sorts of reasons. Part of it could be pride. To offer praise requires humility. We have to bow and implicitly recognize our smallness. Also, in our competitive culture, we’re quick to criticize but slow to give the glory away. Another factor in neglecting praise may be our sense that our activity in prayer should accomplish something. Logging our petitions hopefully results in divine responsiveness. Thanks permits us to close the loop of obligation to a benefactor. Lamentation allows us space for venting. But praise? What does it do? What do we get for it, and frankly, what does God get out of it? Praise and adoration draw us deep into the heart of right relationship with God. As someone once said about Adoration: “I look at God. God looks at me.” Deepening the intimacy of that relationship is accomplishment enough! Related scripture links The harvest is ready: Joel 4:13; Rev. 14:14-20 Seed and sower: Eccl. 11:6; Isa. 55:10; 2 Cor. 9:10 Birds: Gen. 6:20; Dan. 4:10-12 Cedars from Lebanon: 1 Kgs. 4:33; Ezra 3:7; Psalm 37:35; 92:12; Ezek. 27:5; 31:3

Authors Alice Camille

Prayer intercession thanksgiving Praise contrition lamentation

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Sign & sacrament

07 Jul 2013 - Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

In early July of 1776, at the time of the Declaration of Independence, John Adams wrote of the importance of the moment to his wife Abigail: “It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.” Despite our problems and challenges as a nation, we can give thanks this week for the many blessings we enjoy. And we can commit ourselves to doing our part so that all who reside in our land can share in those blessings. For more “Sign & sacrament” material, search the Prepare the Word database by today’s scripture reading, a particular theme, or a special occasion.

thanksgiving Freedom

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The inner word

02 Jun 2013 - Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi), Cycle C

As you may be aware, the word Eucharist comes from the Greek for “thanksgiving”—in the gospel story this Sunday Christ, “gives thanks” at his last supper. In that way the Eucharistic liturgy is really one big thanksgiving for God’s great gift: life itself and eternal life through Jesus.

Eucharist thanksgiving

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Exploring the word

20 Nov 2011 - Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, Cycle A

FOR 70 YEARS the National Bible Association has designated the week of Thanksgiving from Sunday to Sunday as “National Bible Week.” A movement started among secular business leaders in New York City during World War II, their signature event is this simple allotment of a week of encouraging scripture reading. It seems so benign and easy: Read your Bible. No propaganda, no politics, no denominationally colored rhetoric. Just read your Bible. Those of us in the Good Word business, of course, know there’s nothing innocent or simplistic in this undertaking. Reading the Bible isn’t an activity one can engage for a week, no harm done. Nor is it about hearing these stories passively, as if divine healing rays can be absorbed through mere exposure. If that were true, why not just leave a Bible open in the living room to radiate its beneficial influence? In addition Catholics, partial to the unity thing, prefer the tribal method of scholarship-supported scripture study to the lone wolf interpretation. The Word of God isn’t anything we want it to mean, or what already suits our personal opinions. If folks undertake scripture reading at home, fine, but be sure it’s augmented with a first-rate commentary and a decent Bible dictionary. The capacity to be mentored is a sign of the virtue of humility, essential to the learning process and the wisdom quest alike. Opening the Bible will do us no good if we can’t admit to any ignorance or bow before any intelligence larger than our own. Guidance from the learned among us isn’t the same as being controlled by the thought police, as our increasingly libertarian society reflexively insists. The wisdom of the ages used to be regarded as a good thing in a less paranoid culture. While hierarchy is an almost universally derided structure in these down-with-government days, a wise person is one who agrees that scholars, experts, doctors, mystics, and leaders may indeed know something he or she doesn’t. Why else take your car to the garage or submit to surgery? On the feast of Christ the King, we acknowledge the supremacy of one Son of God who is head over this Body, the church. We bow before one Lord and confess him as the ultimate ruler over truth and guide over human history. We accept that Christ alone shows us the way of life and all other routes will prove futile and frustrating. If we want to inherit the Kingdom prepared for us since the dawn of time, the instructions are absurdly simple: Take care of one other. Love your neighbor. In doing so we participate in the love of God. If we learn nothing else from reading the Bible, this instruction would be enough to hold us in life everlasting. Related Scripture links Love Command: John 13:15, 34-35 Judge not: Isa. 28:6, 30:18; Matt. 7:1-5; Luke 3:17, 6:37-42; Rom. 2:1-11 God sees the interior: Luke 16:15; Acts 15:8 Weddings, God, and us: Matt. 22:1-14, 25:1-13; Luke 14:7-14, 15-24 Faith, hope, and love: 1 Cor. 13:13 Catechism links Love Command: 782, 1822-1829, 1970, 2822, 2842 Corporal works of mercy: 2447-2449 Theological virtues: 1812-1832

Authors Alice Camille

Bible national bible week thanksgiving

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Exploring the word

10 Oct 2010 - Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! OK, so it’s not that special occasion, not just yet. But in the context of our Eucharist (which as we all know means "thanksgiving") every day we find a reason for gratitude. In the scheme of our lives, too, we have many reasons to be grateful—though we don’t always focus on them. Things that are wrong and need attention take up a lot more space in our field of vision. Think about it. In every hour probably a thousand things go stupendously north while one tiny detail goes south and that one acts like a magnet for our energies. In this one hour, if your heart kept beating, your lungs functioned admirably, and your senses are not impaired, you probably didn’t notice. But if your heart skips a beat or you sneeze or your vision gets blurry, it’s the loud blip on your radar. Wellness never gets applause, but pain becomes the immediate fulcrum of our experience. If we paid all the bills this month, nobody throws a party for us; we don’t even get a note of congratulations from our creditors. But if the light bill didn’t get covered, we’re bound to attract attention, maybe even find ourselves sitting in darkness later tonight. The nerve of these people not to remember how good we usually are! Because the negative attracts more attention than the positive, we’re better at prayers of petition than those of thanksgiving. We race to God when things fall apart—and may forget to return when everything’s running smoothly. If you have relatives you only hear from when he needs a handout or she needs a shoulder to cry on, you may feel ambivalent about answering the phone when their number comes up. It would be nice if the office complainer or parish critic would also acknowledge when praise is in order. I’ve noticed whenever there’s a prayer service involving writing down sins or healing intentions on a piece of paper, everyone gets busy with their pencils right away. But if we passed the basket around at the offertory this weekend and asked for an offering of thanks for what’s gone well in the parish (or diocese or church as a whole) in the last year, would folks be as quick to compose elaborate lists? Jesus scores 10 for 10, every single time: That number comes to him for healing; that same number goes away with restoration in the bag. One practically falls over his feet racing back to say thank you. What were the excuses of the other nine? We can hear them from here: Oh, look, now it’s raining! Guess I lost my old job for good. And jeez, look who’s welcoming me home, it’s that Margaret woman . . . . Related scripture links Other lepers in the Bible: Exod. 4:6-8; Num. 12:9-15; 2 Kings 7:3-11, 15:5; Mark 1:40-45; Matt. 8:1-4; Luke 5:12-16 Biblical leprosy defined: Lev. 13-14 Psalms of thanksgiving: 1 Chron. 16:8-36; Pss. 9, 10, 18, 30, 34, 41, 65, 92, 116, 118, 136, 138 Jesus expresses gratitude before the miracle: John 11:41 Catechism links Church structure: CCC 669; 771; 871-933; 1655-58 Jesus and hierarchy: CCC 583-586 Death in Christ is life: CCC 1010-1014

Authors Alice Camille

Prayer thanksgiving Eucharist

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Homily stories

07 Jul 2013 - Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

MIDSUMMER is a time to savor the world. Nature itself insists we pay attention to its truths. Many remember E.B. White’s essay “Once More to the Lake,” in which a father—taking his son to a lake cabin for summer vacation—lapses into memories of when his own father did the same and he, the speaker, was a boy: “I felt dizzy and didn’t know which [fishing] rod I was at the end of.” Summer is made for lying back in prayerful contemplation to recognize and give thanks for a rhythm of life often taken for granted. Walt Whitman recognized in ordinary life the blessings that surround us if only we take the time to notice: “Whether I walk the streets of Manhattan, / Or dart my sight over the roofs of houses toward the sky, / Or wade with naked feet along the beach just in the edge of the water, / Or stand under trees in the woods, / Or talk by day with any one I love . . . . These with the rest, one and all, are to me miracles.” We are often occupied and preoccupied. In summer perhaps we can sit back awhile and bask in the miracles of life.

Authors Father Larry Janowski O.F.M.

thanksgiving Leisure

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Homily stories

16 Dec 2012 - Third Sunday of Advent, Cycle C

In an unusual moment of foresight and planning, I ordered a $10 blonde wig online well in advance of Halloween for a costume my young daughter was planning to wear. When the wig arrived, I handed the package to my daughter to open. She was so surprised to see this essential piece to her trick-or-treat ensemble in hand ahead of schedule, she cried out: “Congratulations, Mommy! Congratulations! I am so proud of you!” I chose not to dwell on what that response had to say about my prior competencies as a parent or costume procurer, but I was confident that, at that moment, I had definitely done something right. The rejoicing was sincere. I had made my daughter’s day. The cause for true rejoicing often comes in these small moments of giving and receiving. Judgments of past shortcomings are set aside and we embrace one another in charity and thanksgiving. No anxiety—just simple joy: That is the peace of God that surpasses all understanding.

Authors Patrice J. Tuohy

Charity rejoice thanksgiving

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Homily themes

16 Dec 2012 - Third Sunday of Advent, Cycle C

"Fear not,” scripture tells us. “Have no anxiety at all.” Why not? “The Lord, your God, is in your midst”; “the Lord is near.” But how: “What should we do?” Answer: “Shout for joy,” of course, and “cry out with joy and gladness”—in a word: “Rejoice!” And pray: “In everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God.” Act: Your kindness should be known to all.” Share your basic necessities, John the Baptist says to the despised tax collectors and soldiers, don’t give in to corruption. Serve one another: Loosening the thongs of sandals is a slave’s work but John is willing to do it because he knows “a mighty savior,” “one mightier than I is coming.”

Authors Joel Schorn

joy thanksgiving fear

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First president’s thankful letter at auction

06 Oct 2013 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The psalmist this Sunday urges us to “sing joyfully to the Lord” and to “come into his presence with thanksgiving.” President George Washington urged a similar spirit of thanksgiving in his 1789 proclamation establishing the first Thanksgiving Day. One of only two known copies of the document will be auctioned at Christie’s in New York City November 14.The only other known copy of the proclamation is at the Library of Congress, the auction house said. The proclamation, which set the first national day of thanksgiving for Thursday, November 26, 1789, is projected to sell for between $8 million and $12 million. It's being sold by a private American collector.Washington marked the day in 1789 by attending services at St. Paul's Chapel in Manhattan. In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln made Thanksgiving Day a permanent national holiday to be celebrated annually on the fourth Thursday in November. President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939 moved it to the third Thursday in November. Two years later Congress passed a resolution reestablishing the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day.Washington's proclamation says in part: “Both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer. Now therefore do I recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being.”Homily hint: Though it’s a cliché to say that “every day should be Thanksgiving Day,” that doesn’t mean it’s a bad idea. While some may pay millions for a proclamation, we need no invitation to thank our Maker for all we are given each day. Source: An article by the Associated Press

thanksgiving letters congress auctions thanksgiving day george washington abraham lincoln franklin roosevelt auction

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