Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, it is good that we are here to

Homily for Thanksgiving Day Mass

Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception

Springfield, Illinois

November 25, 2021

† Most Reverend Thomas John Paprocki

Bishop of Springfield in Illinois

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, it is good that we are here to

observe our American holiday devoted to Thanksgiving. It is also good for

us to recall the roots of this celebration.

The American celebration of Thanksgiving is religious in origin.

Governor William Bradford proclaimed the first Thanksgiving Day in 1621

to give thanks to God for the Pilgrims’ safe voyage across the ocean, for

surviving a harsh winter, for a rich harvest and for their new native

American friends. It was a feast that was shared by all the colonists and their

native hosts. According to The New Columbia Encyclopedia “. . . the customary

turkey dinner is a reminder of the four wild turkeys served in the Pilgrims’

first Thanksgiving feast.”

It was not only a time for sharing and good fellowship. It was a time

for thanking God, and that theme has remained the focus of this special

holiday over the centuries. Few people realize that the Pilgrims did not

celebrate Thanksgiving the next year, or any year thereafter, though some of

their descendants later made a “Forefather's Day” that usually occurred on

December 21

or 22

. The Continental Congress in 1777 proclaimed a day

of Thanksgiving.

Several Presidents made one-time Thanksgiving holidays. Our first

President, George Washington, proclaimed a national day of thanksgiving

on November 26, 1789. He recommended that Americans devote the day “to

the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of

all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may all then unite in

rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for his kind care and

protection . . .”

In 1863, Abraham Lincoln made Thanksgiving a national holiday. On

October 3, 1863, in the midst of our tragic Civil War, President Abraham

Lincoln revived what is now an annual tradition of issuing a presidential

proclamation of Thanksgiving. President Lincoln asked God to “heal the

wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the

Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and

Union.” Acknowledging the many blessings that we constantly enjoy,

President Lincoln proclaimed:

“It has seemed to me fit and proper that these gifts should be solemnly,

reverently, and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by

the whole American people. I do, therefore, invite my fellow citizens in every

part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and who are

sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday in

November as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who

dwells in the heavens.”

In celebration of Thanksgiving Day 1902, President Theodore

Roosevelt wrote, “Rarely has any people enjoyed greater prosperity than we

are now enjoying. For this we render heartfelt and solemn thanks to the

Giver of Good; and we seek to praise Him -- not by words only -- but by

deeds, by the way in which we do our duty to ourselves and to our fellow

men.”

On December 26, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a bill

into law passed by Congress making Thanksgiving a national holiday and

settling it on the fourth (but not final) Thursday in November. Thus we

continue this great national tradition today, one of the few holidays when

people of all faiths and religions can share in the same purpose and customs

of the celebration.

The Gospel passage today (Lk 17:11-19) goes particularly well with

today’s first reading and especially our celebration of Thanksgiving. Saint

Luke consistently reminds us that Jesus is determined to make the journey

to Jerusalem. Those who meet Him, follow Him, listen to Him, and obey

Him; they are are healed, enlightened, and then change their lives. They are

saved.

Luke highlights the favor Jesus bestows on someone outside the

People of Israel. This person is a Samaritan, an enemy of the Jews. Although

Jesus heals ten lepers, this Samaritan is the only one who “sees” that he has

been cured. He becomes known for what he does after his encounter with

Jesus: He returns to Jesus to offer thanks and praise. Luke often notes that

amazement and thanksgiving are the appropriate response to meeting Jesus.

Jesus praises the Samaritan’s example and adds yet another dimension

to his healing. This man had been labeled a foreigner and a leper. He was

not among the Chosen People. But now he has a new identity as healed,

grateful, and saved. Jesus clearly has the power to heal. More importantly,

we have the power to accept salvation gratefully and humbly.

Every preface at Mass begins, “It is truly right and just, our duty and

our salvation, always and everywhere to give you thanks, Lord, holy Father,

almighty and eternal God, through Christ our Lord.” Then we state why we

are thankful. Later, we hear how Christ, the night before he died, took the

bread, took the chalice, raised his eyes to heaven, blessed the elements of

bread and wine, “giving thanks, broke the bread and gave . . . once more

giving you thanks . . . gave the chalice.”

We gather here to do what Jesus did: to give thanks to God for all his

gifts, especially for the saving paschal mystery accomplished by Jesus. In this

Eucharist, our central act of thanksgiving, we then, as St. Augustine said

centuries ago, “receive what we are and become what we receive.” We

receive the Body of Christ, and become more deeply the Body of Christ.

What are the implications of so great mystery? We are to be a

eucharistic people, a people of thanksgiving, a people who live Eucharist by

pouring our lives out for others.

Today is our national day of Thanksgiving; gathered here, we are

grateful for the blessings of life in this country. The words of the Preface

today name the gift: “You have entrusted to us the great gift of freedom, a

gift that calls forth responsibility and commitment to the truth that all have

a fundamental dignity before you.” Not a freedom to do “whatever,” but a

freedom that is ours because Christ redeemed us from sin.

Our lives must always be marked by gratitude, by being grateful in

thought, word, and deed—like the Samaritan leper who alone returned to

give thanks and to praise God. St. John Chrysostom wrote that the gifts we

receive from God greatly exceed the grains of sand on the seashore.

The Tenth Declaration of our Fourth Diocesan Synod declared, “As a

Diocese committed to discipleship and stewardship, the community of

Catholic faithful recognizes that everything we have comes from God and

that He has given us gifts not just to use them for ourselves but also to share

them with others. As faithful and generous stewards of God’s abundant

gifts, those committed to discipleship and stewardship as a way of life

pledge to share their talents, give of their time and contribute

proportionately from their financial resources for the good of the Church

and those in need.”

Stewardship has been defined as “the grateful response of a Christian

Disciple who recognizes and receives God's gifts and shares these gifts in

love of God and neighbor.”

The best way we can show our thanks to God

for the gifts He has given us is for us to give back generously to Him and His

Church.

Later today most of us will sit down to share some sort of

Thanksgiving dinner. Yet today’s holiday is not primarily about the meal

that will be served in our homes. Today’s primary feast is the spiritual food

that we receive here at Mass as the foretaste and promise of the heavenly

banquet promised to those who follow our Lord. Last week the Catholic

Bishops of the United States approved a teaching document on The Mystery

of the Eucharist in the Life of the Church.

I pray that this will help the Christian

faithful to grow in their understanding of and appreciation for the Eucharist.

In our prayers of thanksgiving today, may our greatest gratitude be for the

generous gift that Our Lord has given of Himself to us in the Eucharist.

Partaking of this Eucharist gives us the courage to live a life overflowing

with thanks, not just today, but every day of our lives.

May God give us this grace. Amen.

St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on St. Matthew’s Gospel, 25, 4.

Catholic Diocese of Wichita, https://catholicdioceseofwichita.org/stewardship/.

The Mystery of the Eucharist in the Life of the Church.pdf (usccb.org), November 2021.