Homily for November 28th, 2013: Thanksgiving Day.
On this
Thanksgiving day I’d like to tell you about something the Lord moved me to do on my 13th
birthday, in May 1941. It has been a source of great blessing to me ever since.
I visited the chapel of the small and very spartan Connecticut boarding school where I was
being educated. Kneeling, or perhaps sitting, in the presence of the Lord in
the Tabernacle, I wrote down a list of all the things I was thankful for. I
continued this practice on my birthday for a number of years thereafter. The
list was always a long one. And it was never difficult to compile. It always
brought me joy.
It is decades since I have used my
birthday to compile that list of blessings. But that boyhood practice has made
thanksgiving central in my life, and in my prayer. If you are looking right now
at a happy man, and a happy priest -- and I can assure you that you are – it is
because I have trained myself to say every day, more times than I could ever
tell you: “Lord, you’re so good to me. And I’m so grateful.”
And now I have a suggestion for you.
Before you start to eat your Thanksgiving dinner today, go round the table and ask
each person, young or old, to say at least one thing that he or she is thankful
for. You may hear some surprises. Whether you do or not, I promise you one
thing that a richly blessed life of more than 85 years has taught me. Thankful
people are happy people – no exceptions!
No comments:
Post a Comment