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SHOULD THANKSGIVING BE CANCELLED?
The economy is still not improving very rapidly. Our pensions, retirement funds, or other investments have seen a 40-60% loss this year. Many have lost their jobs, fear they will lose them, or are having their hours or pay cut. With all this bad news we might ask, what do we have to be thankful for this Thanksgiving Day? How can we possibly celebrate a holiday where we give thanks for our prosperity given this past year?
If we think of our lives only in terms of money, wealth, possessions, and earthly success, we should just skip Thanksgiving this year and every year. Thanksgiving is not a secular holiday to celebrate all the money we have made and the things we possess. Nor is it about turkey, football, stuffing, or pumpkin pie. From the very first Thanksgiving in 1621 a the Plymouth Plantation, thanksgiving has been observed as a religious holiday. It is a day set aside to thank God for the many blessings we have received from God. Yes, sometimes these blessings can come in the form of a good harvest or good health but our gratitude to God should go beyond our mere superficial measurements of success.
Instead of looking at our lives through human eyes, we need to look at our lives with the eyes of Christ. If we look at our lives with Christ’s eyes, we would see that our money, possessions, jobs, prestige, and place in society mean absolutely nothing. None of these draw us closer to God and, unfortunately, often keep us from God as we place them ahead of our relationship with God. Christ’s eyes would see God’s love and blessings everywhere we are invited to partake in the actual body and blood of Jesus in the form of bread and wine. We would see God’s love and blessings in the everyday and in those with whom we live and work.
This Thanksgiving Day, let us not celebrate the superficial things that do not bring us closer to God. Let us see and thank God for all the blessings we receive every day and especially for the gift of Christ in the Eucharist, a term derived from an original Greek expression which means “thanksgiving”.
Reprint of Article by Jim Lamm, Director of Stewardship, St. Louis King of France Church.
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A STEWARDSHIP SAINT FOR NOVEMBER:
SAINT MARTIN OF TOURS
St. Martin of Tours was born around 316 in a territory that is now part of Hungary. His father, an officer in the Roman army, conscripted Martin into military service at the age of fifteen.
While Martin was still a soldier, there occurred the famous incident memorialized by many artists. One day while at the gates of the city of Amiens he saw a scantily clad beggar. Martin cut his own military cloak in half and shared it with the beggar. That night Martin dreamed that Jesus was wearing that same half-cloak he had given away. Martin had for some time considered becoming a Christian. He was promptly baptized and made the decision to dedicate his life to Christ.
Martin became a follower of St. Hilary of Poitiers who gave him land where the first monastery in Gaul (present day France) was established. It is the first monastery known to be established north of the Alps. Christianity was largely confined to urban areas, and Martin saw monasteries as rural spiritual centers from which evangelization in the countryside could take place. He was zealous in bringing people to Christ.
In 371, a time when bishops were chosen by the faithful, Martin was tricked into coming to Tours to be elected bishop. He was well-known for his evangelizing, personal holiness, healing ministry and compassion toward the poor. It was also well known that Martin would never agree to be a bishop. A man from the city come to Martin and begged him to visit his sick wife. When the kindhearted Martin got to Tours crowds of people came out of hiding and surrounded him. Unable to escape, he was swept into the city and, overwhelmed by the will of the crowds, became their bishop.
Martin maintained his lifestyle as a monk and exercised stewardship of the diocese on foot, horseback and by boat. His profound personal witness met with great success in an area that was largely pagan.
Martin died on November 8, 397, and his feast is November 11, the day he was buried in Tours. He is a patron saint of France.
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STEWARDSHIP MESSAGE FOR NOVEMBER 7-8, 2009
Jesus points out to his disciples the poor widow who has just dropped two simple copper coins into the temple treasury. He then delivers a teaching on stewardship. Despite her poverty, the poor widow in today’s Gospel does not refuse God her generosity. Out of her desperately impoverished life she contributes to an earthly institution to give God glory and praise. It is not the monetary value of the gift that was important, but the love, trust and gratitude expressed through the gift. The Gospel asks us similarly compelling stewardship questions: What do we value? In what or whom do we place our trust? How do our own contributions to our community of faith reflect our generosity toward God?
STEWARDSHIP MESSAGE FOR NOVEMBER 14-15 2009
How would you spend your day if you knew it was the last day you would spend on earth? Undoubtedly, it would not be a normal day. The point in today’s Gospel reading is that the end-time is always imminent. The good steward remains prayerfully alert, ready to give an accounting; and living each day in the awareness of the coming judgment and salvation. How do we exercise stewardship over our daily lives? Are we prepared to give an accounting? How will we allow Christ to work in and through us to prepare for the reconciliation of the heavens and the earth?
STEWARDSHIP MESSAGE FOR NOVEMBER 21-22, 2009
Today’s Gospel reading records, arguable, the most important exchange in all of literature, the one between Jesus and Pilate While Pilate presumes the conversation is about earthly, political “king.” Jesus, by contrast, suggests to Pilate that he is that “faithful witness” of a wholly transcendent kingship, one that is envisioned by Daniel and the reading from the Book of Revelations. As we approach the Advent-season, this week would be a good time to reflect on how we understand our role as stewards of this transcendent kingship and how we can better serve Christ to bring about this new kingdom.
STEWARDSHIP MESSAGE FOR NOVEMBER 28-29, 2009
A profound stewardship blessing is offered by St. Paul to the Thessalonians in today’s second reading. He encourages the community to continue to show loving concern for its members and to care for the needs of others. We witness for the first time the spirituality of stewardship at work in a New Testament community that is putting the Eucharist into action. An Advent spirit prevails that is transforming and filled with hope for the coming of the Lord Jesus. What are we doing to promote this spirit of stewardship in our personal lives and in our community of faith?
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