Know, Praise, Thank “Know that the Lord is God” (Psalm 100:3)

November 27: Thanksgiving Day

Sirach 50:22-24; Psalm 145: 2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9, 10-11; 1Corinthians 1:3-9; Luke 17:11-19

Thursday of Week 34 of Ordinary Time, Year A-II:

Revelation 18:1-2, 21-23; 19:1-3, 9; Psalm 100:1-2, 3, 4, 5; Luke 21:20-28

Click here for the complete text of today’s readings.

Thoughts to help us take responsibility as stewards of the kingship of Christ.

(To support  Reaching Jesus: 5 Steps to a Fuller Life ... Step Five )

Know, Praise, Thank

“Know that the Lord is God” (Psalm 100:3).

When Jesus cured ten lepers (Luke 17), he was surprised only one “returned to give thanks to God.” That is thought-provoking. Thanking God is a basic human duty, especially for Jews and Christians, who know better than anyone what God is doing for the human race.

Christians have a special reason to thank God: we have the answer to all fear. Others may “die of fright in anticipation of what is coming upon the world.” But Luke tells us (chapter 21), “when these signs begin to happen, raise your heads because your redemption is at hand.” Then we “will see the Son of Man coming with power and great glory,” and we will hear an angel crying out the words we proclaim in every Mass: “Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding banquet of the Lamb” (Revelation 19:9).

Paul promised God can “keep us firm to the end,” because Christians are “enriched in every way, with all knowledge.” We are awaiting “the blessed hope and the manifestation (epiphaniam, Titus 2:13; or ‘revelation,’ apokalupsin, 1Corinthians 1:3-9) of the glory of our Savior, Jesus Christ.”

Waiting keeps us open. Faithful stewards manage “what is new and what is old” (Matthew 13:52), drawing on the past and the future. In this way, Sirach says (50:22), God “fosters growth from the womb.”

  

PRAY: “Lord, let thanksgiving give me hope.”

PRACTICE: At Mass, “Enter with thanksgiving… Give thanks to him” (Psalm 100).