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November Prayer Theme:
"Living Our Thanksgiving: Praying and Working that all might find their place at the Lord's table."
During the month of November, we celebrate many significant feasts in the Church calendar, and of course, our civic calendar is focused primarily on our national holiday of Thanksgiving. November is also a month of remembrance; we pray for our faithful departed, especially on All Souls Day, November 2. At our Thanksgiving tables, we remember the blessings of a bountiful harvest, the gift of family near and far, and the presence of the Lord Jesus in the Church, especially in the Sacrament of His Body and Blood.
This month of November is a wonderful time for us to try to see more clearly the connection between our Thanksgiving meal at home and the meal of the Lord's Supper. Just as we want every person home for Thanksgiving, we should have the same enthusiastic concern that all our brothers and sisters join us at the Lord's Table. Likewise, we should be conscious of the hunger of many who live on scraps of food while we enjoy a great deal. At the Lord's Table, we give thanks for the living memory of Jesus Christ, present in the Blessed Sacrament and present in and through our own lives as we put the Eucharist into action.
Heavenly Father, in union with Christ, your Son, we give thanks to you for all that we have received in this world and the promise of life eternal. As we remember our blessings, teach us to be generous. As we experience suffering, loss, and disappointment, may we unite our pains and the hunger of the world to the suffering and victory of Christ, your Son, that we experience anew in every Holy Eucharist. Give us the grace, loving Father, to be so united with Christ, your Son, that we truly become one body and one spirit in His name for the salvation of all the world. As we gather at our earthly tables and at the table of your Son's Body and Blood, may we remember our enduring connection with the communion of saints, particularly our departed loved ones, who now enjoy the banquet of life eternal, as you live and reign, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.
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