Dear Students,
Praise to our Lord Jesus Christ! Many of us have a short week this week due to the Thanksgiving Break. Our prayers are for safe travels and an enjoyable holiday with your families and friends.
Thanksgiving is a national holiday. It was instituted by our government, not by the Church. Nevertheless it can be considered a religious holiday in that the One we are called to express our thanks to is none other than the God who gives us all we have, and all we are. The popular image of Thanksgiving's origins involves pilgrims and natives sharing a harvest feast. But the national holiday was actually instituted by Abraham Lincoln in 1863, during the Civil War. His proclamation reads, in part:
So remember to give thanks and praise to God this Thanksgiving, and every day. And remember, the word Eucharist means "thanks giving." Catholics celebrate a thanksgiving meal each and every time we attend Mass. There can never be a better way to offer thanks to God than through His Eucharistic Son.I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. (Oct. 3, 1863).
Father all-powerful, your gifts of love are countless and your goodness infinite; as we come before you on Thanksgiving Day with gratitude for your kindness, open our hearts to have concern for every man, woman, and child, so that we may share your gifts in loving service. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
--
WCU Catholic Campus Ministry
Matthew Newsome, MTh, campus minister
(828)293-9374 | POB 2766, Cullowhee NC 28723
