Bishops' Schedules: Bishop William H. Bullock Saturday, November 6, 2004 4:00 p.m. -- Preside and Preach at Celebration of the Eucharist, Knights of Columbus 4th Degree Exemplification, Chula Vista Resort, Wisconsin Dells Sunday, November 7, 2004 11:00 a.m. -- Preside and Preach at Celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation, St. Patrick Parish, Benton Tuesday, November 9, 2004 5:30 p.m. -- Attend 9th Annual Catholic Charities Awards Dinner, Marriott West, Middleton Wednesday, November 10, 2004 7:00 p.m. -- Preside and Preach at Celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation, St. Francis Xavier Parish, Lake Mills Thursday, November 11, 2004 7:00 p.m. -- Attend St. Thérèse of Lisieux Lecture Series, Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center, Madison Bishop George O. Wirz Saturday, November 6, 2004 5:15 p.m. -- Preside and Preach at Celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation, Sacred Heart Parish, Reedsburg Sunday, November 7, 2004 4:00 p.m. -- Preside and Preach at Celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation, St. Jerome Parish, Columbus Tuesday, November 9, 2004 5:30 p.m. -- Preside and Preach at Celebration of the Eucharist, Memorial Mass for Knights of Columbus Council 531, Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center, Madison Thursday, November 11, 2004 7:00 p.m. -- Attend St. Thérèse of Liseux Lecture Series, Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center, Madison

Look to Eucharist: For real meaning of thanksgiving

		Under the Gospel Book + Bishop Robert C. Morlino

Dear Friends,

Last week I sought to reflect on November as the month of the holy souls in purgatory with whom we are most closely united at the Eucharist. November is also a month accentuated by the celebration of Thanksgiving which should turn our thoughts once again back to the Eucharist, because Eucharist is in fact the Greek word for thanksgiving. If we want to know the deepest meaning of the thanksgiving that we celebrate on Thanksgiving Day, especially during this Year of the Eucharist, we must properly turn to the Eucharist.

Eucharist is sacrifice of thanksgiving

The Eucharist is our great sacrifice of thanksgiving for the wonderful gift of salvation that we have received in the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus. It should dawn on us that there is no gift that we need more than salvation. The gifts of life and health, as precious as they are, pale in comparison to eternal life face to face with Christ which is His resurrection gift. This is a gift that we need more than anything else, it is one that we cannot provide for ourselves, and it is one that we could never earn.

"Real thanksgiving means the sacrifice of that false but tempting self-image, a willingness to forget self and to be in communion with Christ the giver of all good gifts, especially the gift of salvation."

The Eucharist is a sacrifice of thanksgiving because in this act of giving thanks we sacrifice any sense of ego-power or self-sufficiency that we might be tempted to assume especially in this American culture.

Real thanksgiving calls us to sacrifice any notion of self that presumes that we can take care of ourselves and our needs even the most important ones like salvation and like health. The thanksgiving which we offer in the Eucharist humbles us as we admit that for our most important needs we are in completely powerless dependence on the Lord Jesus. And so as we give thanks to Christ on Thanksgiving Day and every day, we sacrifice any self-centeredness that would lead us to believe that we are somehow bigger or better than we really are.

Real thanksgiving means the sacrifice of that false but tempting self-image, a willingness to forget self and to be in communion with Christ the giver of all good gifts, especially the gift of salvation.

We must imitate Christ's generosity

It is good during this Year of the Eucharist to reflect on this real meaning of thanksgiving because our culture also forces us prematurely to enter the Christmas season during the days of November. The Christmas season means giving and receiving gifts and sending many "thank you" notes or saying many personal "thank yous."

It is always important to say thank you and no one, least of all myself, should diminish the importance of that. But when we say thank you for the Christmas gifts that we receive, frequently these gifts are things that we do not need, or if we really do need them, we could well provide them for ourselves. So the genuine appreciation that we feel toward those who show us Christmas kindness should never be mistaken for what we might call Eucharistic gratitude, the gratitude that moves us to humble ourselves in self-sacrifice as we have indicated above.

The unreasonable generosity of Christ in giving us that gift of salvation, that gift of mercy which all of us need, which we could never deserve or earn, is the generosity that we ought to imitate in our own lives here in this world at the premature beginning of the Christmas season. And we should especially be grateful for those who exercise this Christ-like Eucharistic generosity toward us, those who give us what we truly need and yet could not earn or provide for ourselves.

Husbands and wives have a special reason to celebrate thanksgiving in terms of the Eucharistic generosity that we hope they give and receive. Other family members and true friends likewise have every reason to celebrate the Eucharistic generosity which they find in the human experience as a mirror of the Eucharistic generosity of Christ Himself.

Let us think first of humbling ourselves

When we think of our Thanksgiving Day celebration it is normal and good to think about turkey. It is normal and good to think about the gift giving and receiving that characterizes the Christmas season. But as followers of Jesus Christ, let us think first and foremost of Eucharist, that perfect act of thanksgiving which we are privileged to offer in the Holy Spirit through Christ to the Father. And let us think of the many graces that Christ wishes to give us to imitate His own Eucharistic generosity of suffering and dying and rising for us while we were and are still sinners.

Let us ask the Lord to change our minds and our hearts so that when we think of thanksgiving we will think first not of turkey nor of the activities which give us joy during the Christmas season but rather that humbling of ourselves in Eucharistic generosity like Christ and with Christ. Then the real joy and peace of Thanksgiving and the Christmas season will flood our hearts - Christ is the only way, the only road, to that peace and joy.

Thank you for reading this. God bless each one of you. Praised be Jesus Christ!