Thanksgiving
Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator
Having quickly finished St. Paul’s 2nd Letter to the Thessalonians, admittedly a short letter, the Lectionary for Mass now focuses our attention on the 1st Letter to the Corinthians. Although there will be a few interruptions because of various feast days that appear on the calendar during the coming weeks, we will spend more than three weeks on this letter, one of St. Paul’s longer epistles. We should be fairly familiar with this letter as it also appears in the Sunday Lectionary quite frequently.
Today’s passage begins as most of St. Paul’s letter begin; i.e. with a greeting and an act of thanksgiving. The act of thanksgiving is rather typical of St. Paul. Once again he gives thanks to God for the work that God has accomplished through those who believe.
I am not sure where I read it, but if I may paraphrase, the one thing that all of the saints have in common is a sense of gratitude. That gratitude is typified by St. Paul’s humility. He realizes that great things are being done through his preaching. He realizes that the Church is thriving because of the witness of those who have believed. However, he attributes this all to God. God has, once again, chosen the weak to confound the strong, has chosen the little ones to thwart the designs of the powerful.
Various celebrities have, from time to time, advised the practice of keeping a gratitude journal. They suggest that we take the time each day to note several things for which we are grateful. For those of us who are Christians, I would amend the suggestions simply by saying that we should note several things for which we are grateful to GOD. Let us never forget that it is God’s name we praise and God’s kingdom we build.
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