Giving thanks with your whole self

Thanksgiving Day

Most of us never get personal handwritten letters in the mail anymore. Instead, our postal mailboxes are filled with bills, ads, and end-of-the-year solicitations, and our electronic mailboxes numb us with spam, more ads, and work. In this age of electronic communication, we’ve lost the art of sending and receiving a personal note or thank you card.

Giving thanks is more than just saying “thank you” or posting a virtual “thumbs up,” just as Thanksgiving is more than just eating a meal. It’s giving a part of yourself to another in response to a blessing they have given to you. Thanksgiving, in a Christian sense, requires some self-sacrifice—a giving of oneself—as a reflection of the sacrifice of Christ.

In the Eucharistic Prayer, our thanksgiving prayer, we offer ourselves with Christ to the Father that we may be changed into Christ’s presence. In our sharing of Communion, we give ourselves to one another, especially those in need, as Christ gave himself to the world.

So this Thanksgiving, and in the days and weeks after it, give a bit of yourself to those who have blessed you this year. Write a short handwritten note to your volunteers, to those who cook at every social gathering, the cleaning staff, and the gardeners. Think of those who rarely get recognized at your parish but whose work and ministry have blessed you.