On Sunday morning, most of us go to something called "Mass" - but the real word for it is "Eucharist". That word means "thanks" in Greek and is still used today in modern Greece. I still remember the first time I went to Greece and stopped at a "taverna" or sidewalk café in Athens for some coffee. It was a warm, sunny day and I enjoyed watching the people walk by. When I was ready to leave, I asked the waiter for my check. When he brought it, I paid for my coffee and then added a small tip. He said "efkaristo". I immediately recognized the word as a variation of "Eucharist".
"Thank you" - these words express one of the most important sentiments that we owe to one another. Gratitude is a virtue that is practiced too rarely. We tend to take so many things for granted: our parents, the country in which we live, the planet earth, the stars in the sky, the flowers in the field, sunset and sunrise. If we truly realized how blessed we are, our hearts would be filled with such gratitude that we would be saying "thank you" every time we breathe. All it takes is a little foreign travel to realize how much we have been blessed, and these blessings have come to us freely. So, it is fitting that we take some special time occasionally to focus on some of the things for which we should be especially thankful.
In many of his letters, St. Paul thanks God for the graces we have all received. Another word for "graces" is the expression of love which God has bestowed on us, without our merit or any real effort on our part.
The first among these is the gift of our faith. We believe in Jesus. We believe in life everlasting. Because of our faith, we see the whole world and everything in it from a different perspective than those who do not believe. They see nothing but what they can touch, taste, see and feel. For them, the world is limited to material things. But through the eyes of faith, we see beyond the world of our senses to the wonderful world of the spirit and the great grace of our redemption in Jesus Christ. The real beauty of the world lies beyond what we can see with our senses.
Thanksgiving is a special day when we say thanks for all the good things which have come to us throughout our lives. Let us be thankful for being born in a time and place where so much is given to us, but most of all let us give thanks for the great love which is ours in Jesus Christ. The best way to give thanks is by sharing that love with one another.
The next time we join with Jesus in that great sacrifice, as we receive communion and share in His Eucharist, let us say "thank you" to God for all the many blessings which are ours, even without asking. Amen.
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