Thanksgiving: A time to dwell in gratitude
by Father Michael McGarry, CSP
November 21, 2011

A few of the cities you'll see as you cruise through northern Europe (clockwise): Berlin, Stockholm, St. Petersburg, and Copenhagen.

Fr. Larry Rice, CSP will be one of the tour leadersFather Michael McGarry, CSP

The great American rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel once observed, ““It is gratefulness that makes the soul great.” Heschel is right in at least two ways.

First, to dwell in gratitude is to situate oneself in our world from a life-giving perspective. Someone once noted, you can be either grateful or resentful; you can’t be both. To dwell in a world where the question regularly returns to “For what am I grateful?” is to flee from resentment and to embrace the world for what it is: a place of grace, a place of gift. And so to dwell in the house of gratefulness is to accept the reality that our Gracious God is perpetually giving us life, grace, and the blessings of the day.

But, one might counter, how can I be grateful against a backdrop of staggering unemployment, a floundering economy, toxic political discourse, and such high unemployment? Or starvation in Africa or earthquakes in Turkey or hurricanes in my own country?

Indeed how can we?

But Heschel pushes us to say: How can we not be grateful?

Again we look around the Thanksgiving table, if we are so blessed, and say, “Thank you, Lord, for these people.”

Or, as the old story goes, after a particularly miserable day, the grateful person may be able to utter nothing more than “Thanks, Lord, that not every day is like this one!”

Second, we can understand Heschel’s phrase, in addition to an affirmation of how to be, as an invitation of what to do. And to do it often.

This year, I am especially grateful for the faithful and creative ministries of my brother Paulists. I am especially grateful for the three men who will be ordained to the priesthood in May. How bright is the future of the Paulists when viewed in the light of these fine men!

Please join me in giving thanks for the Paulist community: Priests, associates, lay collaborators, benefactors, parishioners and friends! May the Paulist mission continue to grow and flourish under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

 

Michael McGarry, CSP

Father Michael McGarry, CSP
President of the Paulist Fathers