Thanksgiving Day – Thursday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
“Bless the God of all, who has done wondrous things on earth.”
When the Christian is called to bless God, he or she is called into a wondrous light. It is the light of one’s own existence, one’s own creation by God, the Source of all that is.
In our second reading, (1 Cor 1:3-9), the Apostle tells us, “in Him you were enriched in every way … you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
The way for the Christian is to admit into consciousness and frequently admit into prayer, his or her gratitude for being enriched with knowledge that there is a God from whom one’s unique existence comes. We are not lacking in this giftedness.
But it is much more. It is the gradually dawning realization – a dawning which may and often does, take a lifetime – that I am invited into eternal communion with this God. I am not an accident of the cosmos.
This realization can be scary; it invites us into an investment of self, a risk. If I am ‘fearfully, wonderfully made,’ as Sacred Scripture says, it means I am invited into the give-and-take of divine love that I risk not being able to pull off. This reluctance is born of a doubt about my worth because in the eyes of the world my worth is never securely established.
The bottom line? Enter daily, however briefly, morning, noon, and night into some praise and gratitude to God.
Reflection by Fr. Xavier Nacke, OSB
Posted in Articles for Ordinary Time, Daily Reflections