‘Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked Him.’
(Excerpt from the Gospel of the 28th Sunday in OT, Luke 17:11-19)
This Sunday, Catholics all over the world will gather to celebrate the Most Holy Eucharist, to offer the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The very next day, Monday, Canadians of every religion will celebrate Thanksgiving. But what does the Eucharist have to do with Thanksgiving?
As you may already know, the word ‘eucharist’ is a Greek word which literally translated means ‘thanksgiving.’ How about that! The Byzantine Catholic Catechism explains it more fully:
‘The mystery of the Eucharist takes its name from this prayer of thanksgiving in which we express gratitude for all that we have received from God. We thank God “for all things which we know and do not know, the benefits bestowed upon us, both manifest and hidden.” This thanksgiving precedes all petitions for our needs. This is because we realize that having given us his Son and the Holy Spirit, he has given us all for our salvation. Praying to God, the “ineffable, inconceivable, invisible, incomprehensible,” we confess that he is infinitely greater than all that we know or can say about him or his deeds. We thank God for creation: “He brought us from nothingness into being,” and for salvation: “After we fell, He raised us up again and did not cease doing everything until He led us to heaven and granted us His future kingdom.’
Listen to the words of the First Eucharistic prayer, immediately before the words of institution:
‘On the day before He was to suffer, He took bread in His Holy and venerable hands, and with eyes raised to heaven to you, O God, His almighty Father; giving you thanks He said the Blessing, broke the bread, and gave it to His disciples…’
Here at Our Lady of the Scapular, we are blessed not only to celebrate the Eucharist every day, but we also have a Eucharistic Adoration Chapel, where you can come, pray, give thanks, and be face to face with Jesus. This Thanksgiving, we are inviting all our parishioners to prayerfully consider committing to coming to adoration for one hour per week, so that we can ensure that Our Lord is never left alone in our chapel. For more information, please see Jennifer Dolan in the narthex after any of this Sunday’s Masses or contact the office.
God Love You,
Fr. Corso