HAPPY THANKSGIVING, THURSDAY OF THE THIRTY-FOURTH OR LAST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME, NOVEMBER 27, 2025
- Olivia M. Bannan
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
Gospel
As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem, he traveled through Samaria and Galilee. As he was entering a village, ten persons with leprosy met him. They stood at a distance from him and raised their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!” And when he saw them, he said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” As they were going they were cleansed. And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. He was a Samaritan. Jesus said in reply, “Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?” Then he said to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you.”
REFLECTION
And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him.
In 1621, 52 Pilgrims and 90 Wampanoag people gathered to celebrate a successful harvest in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The feast was a diplomatic event following an alliance formed between the colonists and the Wampanoag for mutual defense and support.
On October 3, 1789, George Washington issued a proclamation creating the first Thanksgiving Day designated by the national government of the United States of America, to be celebrated on Thursday, November 26, 1789. However, it wasn’t until October 3, 1863, at the height of the Civil War, that President Abraham Lincoln issued a Thanksgiving Day proclamation encouraging Americans “in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea, and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a Day of Thanksgiving and Prayer to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens.”
Thanksgiving has been celebrated in the United States ever since. In his proclamation, President Lincoln also asked for prayers and penitence for the nation's perverseness and disobedience. (The Gilden Lehrman Institute of American History.)
We look forward to once a year, gathering with many family and friends, and serving our very best casseroles and meats. Breaking Bread Ministry in Houston, Texas, every year dedicates Thanksgiving Day to celebrate with and serve the homeless in a sit down dinner in downtown Houston, with tablecloths, beautiful throw away china and silverware.
The priest “in the person of Christ, the Head, in the Church” daily offers Mass in thanksgiving to God. In the Eucharist, bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is the source and summit of the Catholic life. The term “Eucharist” originates from the Greek word eucharistia, meaning thanksgiving.
In the Eucharist we both receive the gift of Jesus Christ and give grateful thanks to God for such a blessing. This thanksgiving is the only proper response, for through this gift of Himself in the celebration of the Eucharist under the appearances of bread and wine Christ gives us the gift of eternal life. He is our spiritual nourishment. We thank our priests who in persona Christi make this possible at Mass. When you see the priest think of Our Lord Jesus and thank God for the priesthood.
Christ has not left us without his bodily presence in this our pilgrimage, but He joins us to Himself in this sacrament in the reality of his body and blood. (Summa Theologiae, III q. 75, a. 1).
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