All early celebrations had one common theme – God. Thanksgiving was directed toward God, the Creator, Protector, and Provider of all.
Today, Thanksgiving is a time to pray and thank God for the continuous graces we receive. Families and friends join in friendship and gratitude and share a Thanksgiving Day dinner that begins with a prayer.
There is no official ‘Thanks to God’ on Thanksgiving Day, but prayers of gratitude have been offered since long before the 1620 American tradition began. Gratitude is the source by which the Pilgrims decided to begin with a prayer of thanks at the historic feast with the Wampanoag Indians. Years later, both George Washington and Abraham Lincoln issued Thanksgiving Day Proclamations
For a way to express their thankfulness for survival and the first harvest, the deeply religious Pilgrims looked to the Bible. They found the celebrated Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot), or Feast of Ingathering. The ingathering of Israelites (delivered from the desert of Sinai) and their harvest were celebrated in this feast and is the most joyous of all feasts still today. (Leviticus 23).
Another reference to giving thanks is found in the account of ‘setting’ what Samuel called the Ebenezer Stone. This was a memorial to remind the Israelites to be grateful for God’s help during an attack from the Philistines (1 Samuel 7:10-12).
Today, Thanksgiving is a time to pray and thank God for the continuous graces we receive. Families and friends join in friendship and gratitude and share a Thanksgiving Day dinner that begins with a prayer.
Loving God, we give thanks for the pleasure of gathering together for this Thanksgiving. We give thanks for this food, prepared by loving hands. We give thanks for life, the freedom to enjoy it all and all other blessings. As we partake of this food, we pray for health and strength to carry on and try to live as You would have us. This we ask in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.(Reprinted from the Bread for the World Louisiana November newsletter. Courtesy of Sister Jane Remson)
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