Thanksgiving - 2021

The Second Reading: St. Paul to the Colossians 3:12-17 As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. As the pandemic rages around us leaving our patience in spreads, as every effort to have a happy life meets with one obsticle after another - even gathering for a Thanksgiving family dinner is complicated. As people are becoming more and more divided we might well ask, thankful for what?  In this Second Reading in today's liturgy of the Word for Thanksgiving we hear St. Paul exhorting us to be thankful. In our complaining question, thankful for what, perhaps we are missing something. Taking these words of St. Paul as a guide take a second look around you. They do exist, reasons to be thankful. Thank God for all the people who looked upon us with compassion when our lives were coming apart. Thank God for all the people who treat us with kindness even as we bristle with anger. Thank God for all the humble people who treat us as more deserving than they when the accolades are being handed out . Thank God for all the people who embrace meekness rather than violence in times of confrontation. Thank God for all the people who's patience gives us time to get over ourselves. Thank God for all the people who have forgiven us our transgressions against them. Thank God for all the people motivated by love, working to bring harmony to our world. Thank God for all the people of peace in who's hearts lives the imitation of Christ bringing healing and reconciliation to our divided and broken world. For all these beautiful people dwelling amongst us be thankful!