Thanksgiving

Many people are perhaps familiar by now with where the word “Eucharist” comes from and what it means. For those not yet familiar, the word comes from the Greek word “eucharistia,” which translates to “thanksgiving.” The Eucharist is a lot of things for us: our new Passover, the source and summit of the Christian life, the Bread of Angels come down from Heaven. But the Church chose to name it “Eucharist” because it is our means of offering thanks to God for all that He has done for us. 

Check out these words from Eucharistic Prayer III: “Therefore, O Lord, we celebrate the memorial of the saving Passion of your Son, his wondrous Resurrection and Ascension into heaven, and as we look forward to his second coming, we offer you in thanksgiving this holy and living sacrifice.” The Eucharist is a participation in the prayer of Christ, both as the sacrifice for our salvation as well as the thanksgiving of the Son to the Father. We are joined as the Body of Christ to Jesus our Head so that we might share in His own prayer to the Father. 

This is why, even though the holiday of Thanksgiving may not be necessarily religious in nature (though there are some historians who suggest the real first Thanksgiving was a Catholic Mass by the Spanish rather than the turkey dinner of the pilgrims we all think about), the Mass is still a great way to celebrate Thanksgiving. We can make this celebration, not only on the 4th Thursday of November, but every week and even every day. May we truly come together as a family in Christ to offer our thanksgiving to our Heavenly Father for all that He has done for us!