by Father John Lynch
November 23, 2009

The first holiday celebrated by English settlers in America was Thanksgiving. In 1621 William Bradford, governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, invited the neighboring Indians to join with the pilgrims in a festival of gratitude for a bountiful harvest. Now it is the most universally observed of our national holidays, beloved by religious and non-religious alike, though one may wonder to whom the atheists in our midst express their gratefulness.

For a follower of Christ, the rendering of thanks is not an option but a fundamental duty. The central act of Christian worship, the Eucharist, is from a Greek word meaning “thanksgiving.” All the Gospel accounts tell us that just a few hours before the terrible events of his betrayal and crucifixion, as he was about to give Himself to us in the Eucharist – his greatest miracle – Jesus gave thanks to the Father. Here, certainly, thanksgiving is inextricably bound up with praise. Jesus was extolling God’s goodness for the mercy and graces bestowed upon his creatures.

It may seem surprising that only once in his teaching do we find Jesus insisting on the duty of gratitude. On a journey through Samaria and Galilee, Jesus took pity on 10 lepers who beseeched him for the gift of healing. Although all were cleansed, only one returned “glorifying [that is, praising] God in a loud voice.” Jesus lamented, “Where are the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?” St. Paul, on the other hand, in his letters stresses over and over again, as many as forty times, the importance of offering thanks; “Pray without ceasing, in all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus” (I Thes. 5: 17-18).

Whereas Jesus’ audience was composed almost exclusively of Jews who throughout their history had been schooled in the practice of adoration, linking gift and giver, the apostle of the Gentiles was dealing with peoples whose religion had no place for thanksgiving. Consequently the recently-evangelized pagans had to be constantly reminded to be grateful for the blessings they enjoyed.

Today as homilists and preachers prod their flocks to be grateful, it behooves them to beware of the plea, “See how much more fortunate or better off you are than other people: the unemployed, the institutionalized, those in the Third World, or whatever.” Such reflections may easily arouse selfishness and satisfaction, as well as gratitude. A small child just learning to speak, when given a new toy will eagerly grasp the present without ever acknowledging the one who gave it. The healed Samaritan, however, “returned glorifying God in a loud voice.” Christian thanksgiving will always be directed to praising the Lord from whom all blessings flow. At every Mass we are invited “Let us give thanks to the Lord our God” and so “we proclaim your Glory” and join the unending hymn of praise.

Father John Lynch, CSP, is the Paulist archivist based at the North American Paulist Center in Washington, D.C.