Let us give thanks to the Lord Our God!
St Paul urges us to give thanks in all circumstances and at all times. In this he is simply inviting us to follow the example of Our Lord who gave thanks at key moments in his ministry. The Gospels relate how he gave thanks before he distributed the loaves and fish, when he was filled with joy by the Holy Spirit at the revelation made to the poor of the earth, before he called Lazarus from the tomb, and above all when he took the bread and the cup at the Last Supper. Thanksgiving is part of Jesus relationship to the Father.
In giving thanks we place ourselves in a right relationship with our Heavenly Father, from whom we receive the ability to do what is pleasing in his sight. At Mass we enter into the submission of Our Lord to the will of the Father: through our Communion in the Body and Blood of Christ he is living in us and we begin to live by his risen life. This recognition of the primacy of grace in our lives is the key to our growth in humility, which alone can assure that we live in God’s favour. The inspiration, the implementation and the completion of all we do is from God. The acknowledgement that without God’s help we can do nothing is a very comforting reality, and should free us from anxiety. If we rely on the guidance of the Holy Spirit and are faithful to the means of grace we may be sure that our lives will unfold in accord with God’s will. The Holy Spirit is given us so that we may recognise God’s gifts. Thanksgiving is what opens our eyes to those gifts and to all that is positive in every aspect of our lives.
We ourselves are even now coming to share more fully in the life of the Blessed Trinity. Our attendance at Mass and our communion in the Body and Blood of Christ bring the Spirit of our adoption as the sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father to perfection. Here we share in the divine life, and anticipate the life of eternity, where God is all in all. While our hearts are set on eternal life we bring to Mass all that makes up our earthly existence, all our achievements, our sufferings and our wounds, our joys and our uncertainties, to offer them to the Father in union with the sacrifice of Christ. Christ is risen. The sacrifice we offer in thanksgiving is a holy and living sacrifice. He is our Leader to life. All that we do takes its value form our union with Our Lord Jesus Christ, because his Body and Blood give us life. Just as Elijah journeyed through the desert for forty days and forty nights in the strength of the food he was given so we journey through life in the strength of the true Bread from heaven, to the glory of God, Father Son and Holy Spirit.