It was wonderful for all of us to see an amazing number of parishioners and guests at our Mass this Thanksgiving morning. Thanks to so many for coming and for the canned goods and monetary gifts that you brought. These gifts will serve the local needy and will be distributed tomorrow.
What follows below is Monsignor Sullivan’s homily from our 8:00 a.m. Mass today.
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Thanks for coming to Mass this morning.
Even though this is the most unusual Thanksgiving we’ve ever had we all know we’ve been richly blessed and come to thank God. “Eucharist” means “thanksgiving.” Giving thanks is the whole purpose of any Mass. So, I really appreciate your being here.
Of course there are disappointments this year. We won’t see most of our loved ones today. Plans have changed. Travel restricted. Many schools remain closed. Some have lost jobs. And many are sick.
But with all that’s going on we’re still able to see so much for which to be grateful. And I just want to tell you again how much I appreciate you. You’re the best, Christ the King! This is my tenth Thanksgiving at Christ the King and I’m so grateful to know you and be here with you!
As we reflect today on the abundance of our blessings we can say with Sirach, “bless the God of all, who has done wondrous things on earth.”
With the psalmist, “I will praise your name for ever, Lord.”
With St. Paul, “I will give thanks to my God always.”
And we can say, “thank you, Lord” in the same spirit of that unnamed Samaritan leper who was healed in two ways. He had been a social outcast through both disease and ethnic origin. Now he was free.
Those biblical figures had either suffered themselves or knew others who had. Each could still say, “Thanks.”
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Long before Abraham Lincoln declared this a national holiday, Thanksgiving had its origins here in Massachusetts, just 82 miles away.
The Mayflower pilgrims lowered their anchor in Plymouth Harbor in November 1620, exactly 400 years ago this month. They were filled with hope. They had survived a perilous journey of three-months over the Atlantic. Their prayers heard, they now landed in the New World.
But the months ahead were not kind. Of the one hundred and three that came more than half would die that winter.
Ten of the seventeen husbands and fathers died. Fourteen of the seventeen wives perished. The survivors remained in grave danger because of fever, famine and cold.
Yet hope remained.
And hope was fulfilled.
With the spring came a Native American man, Squanto, who taught them how to survive - how to distinguish poisonous plants from good ones - how to tap maple trees for sap - fertilize soil with dead fish - and plant corn.
When their first harvest came, the pilgrims organized a feast to thank God for their blessings. And with gratitude they wanted to share their food with others.
Contrary to the many paintings we’ve seen depicting that feast - which see the pilgrims on center stage - there were actually twice as many Native Americans present - for they, too, lived in difficult times.
So, you had all these people helping one another. Just like today in our City where many thousands will receive a meal delivered to their home. “Translated” across the nation that means millions of Americans will receive meals delivered to their homes today.
The fifty-one pilgrim survivors could have looked at the previous eleven months as the worst year of their lives. They had buried so many loved ones!
But they were able to offer thanks because they believed both hardships and blessings were part of God’s providence - His plan.
God loved and guided them.
And they knew that their pilgrimage was not only to Plymouth…but to Paradise. Everything they experienced - adverse or beneficial - was part of the great spiritual journey.
Some may think 2020 the worst year of their lives. But no matter the hardships we’ve endured - and will, going forward - God will always come to strengthen and heal and help.
And so we thank God…
- for our parents, children, spouses, family, friends and health
- for the earth, the harvest it gives, the warmth it provides
- for our homes, our churches, our teachers, our healthcare providers, our jobs, our freedom
In all these people, institutions and gifts we see His hand. And each time we thank Him - we’re better - and so is our nation - and so is our world.