Gratitude

Homily for Thanksgiving Day - 2024

Readings: Isaiah 63:7-9; Col 1:12-20; Luke 1:39-56

Hebrew poetry often starts with a personal statement that soon becomes more communal in nature. That is exactly what happens in the text that we read from the prophet Isaiah in today’s first reading. The prophet begins by recalling the favors of the Lord, using the first-person singular pronoun: “The favors of the Lord I will recall…” However, in the very next verse, he shifts to the plural pronoun: “He has favored us according to his mercy…” The shift is so subtle that we may miss what he has done. His personal thanksgiving becomes a communal thanksgiving.

In St. Paul’s Letter to the Colossians, we read an admonition about the many virtues that characterize a true follower of Jesus. At least three times in this short reading, St. Paul admonishes us to be thankful. We are to be thankful for the fact that God has chosen us, has given us a peaceful heart, and revealed that words of Christ dwell within us. Even in directing us to virtuous behavior, the virtue of being grateful becomes all important. Indeed, gratitude is one of the attributes that can be found in all the men and women who have been raised to sainthood by the church.

Mary’s song of praise is perhaps one of the most wonderful expressions of gratitude. St. Luke has styled this song of praise after Hannah’s song in the First Book of Samuel. In fact, some of the lines in the two women’s songs are identical. The difference in the two is really in the realities of these two women. Hannah has been favored with a son. Mary, on the other hand, sings her song even before she has delivered the promised child. Hannah had borne the reproach of her neighbors and was vindicated. Mary sings while she is yet in danger of the consequences of bearing a child before she was taken into Joseph’s house.

The example we have been given in Mary’s song is powerful. Even when we find ourselves in darkness, Mary teaches us to be grateful. We are truly blessed by the wonderful people who care for us here at St. Francis Woods. Let us, in the words of St. Paul, put on love, our bond of affection with the Lord, our God.