Thanksgiving Day – November 27, 2025
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. These days, when thumbs do most of the typing, we’ve forgotten the thrill of receiving a handwritten card.
Giving thanks is more than just saying the words or posting a “thumbs up,” just as Thanksgiving is more than 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 self-sacrifice—a giving of oneself—as a reflection of the sacrifice of Christ.
This Thanksgiving, and in the days and weeks after it, give a bit of yourself to those who have blessed you this year.
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.
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, and to the cleaning and groundskeeping staff. Even if your penmanship isn’t great, the work of your hands will be a blessing to those in need of your thanks.
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