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Home / News & Publications / Michigan Catholic News / 2007 / Evangelization: Expressing our thanks, sharing our faith

The Michigan Catholic
Published November 2, 2007

"You are being enriched in every way for all generosity, which through us produces thanksgiving to God, for the administration of this public service is not only supplying the needs of the holy ones but is also overflowing in many acts of thanksgiving to God. Through the evidence of this service, you are glorifying God for your obedient confession of the gospel of Christ and the generosity of your contribution to them and to all others. …" (2 Corinthians 9:11-13).

My Brothers and Sisters in the Lord:

When November comes to mind, most of us think of our great American holiday of Thanksgiving, celebrated on the third Thursday of the month. Of course, for Christians, every day could and should be "thanksgiving." As Pope Benedict XVI has repeatedly explained, our fundamental human posture is being a receiver of the gifts of God. As we humbly accept all that God gives (and does not give), we are challenged to give thanks.

Being grateful seems like something that should be relatively natural, spontaneous and easy. In point-of-fact, genuine, heartfelt gratitude is a gift of God; being deeply and profoundly grateful requires a certain disposition of spirit, a sense of vulnerability, humility and openness. It is a strange thing, but in life, things that come quickly and easily are usually not appreciated. We are most grateful for the gifts and opportunities that emerge after a long struggle or a period of suffering. We take so many things in life for granted and only come to appreciate them when we have almost lost them. Anyone with health challenges knows exactly what I mean.

One of the many things we under-appreciate is the gift of our faith and our ability to know God. As St. Paul teaches in Romans chapter 1, just by observing the wonder of creation, questions naturally arise in the human heart and mind, thus bringing people to the threshold of faith. But it is only by the gift of God, and our openness to that gift, that we actually cross that threshold and take the "plunge" of committing our life to Him. Crossing the threshold of faith requires a daily attitude of humble submission, letting go of control and trusting in the power of God's love and mercy. An important aspect of faith is letting ourselves be saved by God, allowing His mercy to enfold us. Once that happens, then we truly have reason for giving thanks!

To put all this another way: As long as we think we are in control of our life and destiny, we can deceive ourselves into thinking we can manage quite well without God, or at least without much of a relationship with Him. But inevitably, every human being reaches a point of crisis and must make the existential decision of whether to truly believe in God and the gift of His love. When that happens, life changes completely; people often speak of this experience as being "born again." Sometimes the conversion in question is a major turnaround in life, but for many people it is a gradual process of smaller, daily "conversions." In any event, we come to know and understand our true dignity and fragility only when we see ourselves in proper relationship with God and everyone else, and everything else. At that moment, genuine thanksgiving wells up within our hearts.

The moment of which I speak is really the moment of a genuine faith encounter with the Lord, recognizing Jesus Christ as our Savior, confessing our total dependence on Him and appreciating the fact that we cannot save ourselves, and that we need the support of Christ's body, the Church. Recognizing Jesus Christ as our Savior and letting ourselves be saved brings us to the moment of genuine thanksgiving in its fullest and richest spiritual sense.

From a heart that has been deeply touched by gratitude, the desire to evangelize is born. When we are truly and deeply grateful for being alive, for being saved, for being loved even in our sinfulness and failures, our gratitude cannot help but pour itself out in a desire to share with others the story of our faith experience. At the same moment, we also experience new motivation to serve the needs of our brothers and sisters.

Thanksgiving for what will be

November is also the month when the Church year draws to its completion and the Scripture readings for these last weeks of Ordinary Time invite us to reflect on the "end times" – Christ's return in glory, the final judgment and the beginning of life eternal. Christian thanksgiving not only looks to the past and gives thanks to God for His saving grace and mercy, but it also looks ahead with hope and confidence toward the day we will completely share in the presence of the Lord in the Kingdom. The fading away of earthly life as we know it can seem, at times, something foreboding, the last thing in the world for which we would ever give thanks! But in reality, it is good for us every day to thank God ahead of time for the prospect and promise of life eternal. Awareness of the end times helps us to be more grateful for what we already have here and now but putting it in perspective, we see all of this as just the beginning, a foreshadowing of something even more.

As the Scriptures for this season remind us, awareness of the end times keeps us accountable for our stewardship and reminds us of our responsibility to use our gifts and talents for the good of others. My thanksgiving should lead me to an ever-greater generous concern for the well-being of others. As St. Paul said in the quotation at the beginning of this column, our mutual thanksgiving should truly build up the whole body of Christ, the Church throughout the world.

John Cardinal Newman, the English theologian from about 150 years ago, once compared the process of moving toward eternity with snow melting: As the snow melts and fades away, it reveals what had been hidden beneath it all along. In the same way, as earthly life fades away, we begin to discover the true meaning of life in the hidden but powerful and sustaining presence of God's love. But again, it is all about letting go and allowing ourselves to be touched and changed by the mystery of God's love.

Thanking God with our families … at our family tables and at the eucharistic table

Before long, we will be gathered around our family tables to break bread and share a wonderful meal, remembering the past and looking forward with hope to the future. Our earthly Thanksgiving table is a foreshadowing of the promise of what we will share forever in the heavenly Eucharist. Our earthly Thanksgiving table should also connect us all the more to the great thanksgiving prayer of the Church, the Holy Eucharist, where we gather as God's people to hear His Word and allow our hearts to be changed so that we can, together, give thanks to God for all that has been and all that will be.

Celebrating our gratitude for blessings received should also motivate us to be all the more thoughtful and generous with the least of our brothers and sisters. Our Thanksgiving meal and prayer would be somewhat incomplete without some genuine outreach toward people in need — at the minimum, praying for them, perhaps inviting those who are alone or forgotten to share at our family table or taking time or money to participate in the work of a soup kitchen.

At the beginning of the Eucharistic prayer, the priest always says, "Let us give thanks to the Lord our God…" and we respond, "It is right to give Him thanks and praise. …" This November, let us indeed give thanks to God for all that has been and all that will be. Let us recognize His saving grace within us and among us. As we do so, we will automatically become evangelizers, preachers of the good news of the death-resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Savior of all people.

Happy Thanksgiving to one and all!

Your brother in the Lord,

†Adam Cardinal Maida
Archbishop of Detroit

November Prayer Theme:
"Evangelization: Expressing Our Thanks, Sharing Our Faith"

Larry Peplin | The Michigan Catholic Fr. Henry Sands celebrates Mass at Most Holy Redeemer Church, Detroit, during Lent 2007. “Almighty, ever-living God, we give you thanks for the bountiful harvest of life in this world and the many ways your saving grace has lifted us out of sin, fear, brokenness, and even death.”

November is a wonderful time to look back over the year that rapidly concludes and all the many years we have been blessed to enjoy in this life. As we do so, hopefully, we also recognize the way God's saving grace has touched us and saved us. Genuine Christian thanksgiving flows forth from hearts that have been deeply touched by awareness of God's mercy. Our thanksgiving draws together experiences of the past and gives us new reason to hope for the future where we will share God's saving grace together forever. In the meanwhile, our thanksgiving also challenges us to be generous with others, especially those most in need.

Almighty, ever-living God, we give you thanks for the bountiful harvest of life in this world and the many ways your saving grace has lifted us out of sin, fear, brokenness, and even death.

We give you thanks for the saving grace of Christ, your Son, who gave his life in solidarity with our pain and brokenness.

We praise you for raising Him up in victory and we ask that we may begin to share His glory here on earth as we look forward to the fullness of life in your kingdom.

May our prayers of thanksgiving, and our deeds of charity and justice, be joined to perfect prayer of Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever.

Amen.