Adult / Couple
Pray!
Table Prayer for Thanksgiving Dinner
Leader One:
Come, let us welcome this feast of Thanksgiving with joy and with light. May the light of gratitude burn brightly
in our hearts
and around this table,
not only on the feast of Thanksgiving but at all meals.
In the silence of our hearts, let each one of us give thanks for the many gifts that are our.
(Pause for reflection)
Let us also be mindful of those today who are without food and a home.
(Pause for reflection)
And let us remember those whom we love who are not now present at this table.
(Pause for reflection)
Leader Two:
Lord of Gifts, from Your holy heart has come a flood of gifts to us.
With uplifted hearts, we have gathered around this table to thank You with prayer and with the worship of feasting.
We are grateful not only for all the gifts of friendship, love, devotion and forgiveness that we have shared.
On this feast of giving thanks, Lord God, we thank you for showing us how to return thanks by lives of service, by deeds of hospitality, by kindness to a stranger, and by concern for each other.
We are most grateful, this feast day,
for the way You, our hidden God, have become visible to us in one another, in countless daily gifts and in the marvels of creation.
Come, Lord of Gifts,
and bless our table and all the food of this feast.
Let us thank the Lord, today and all days. AMEN.
(Adapted from PRAYERS FOR THE DOMESTIC CHURCH by Edward Hays)
Leader One:
Come, let us welcome this feast of Thanksgiving with joy and with light. May the light of gratitude burn brightly
in our hearts
and around this table,
not only on the feast of Thanksgiving but at all meals.
In the silence of our hearts, let each one of us give thanks for the many gifts that are our.
(Pause for reflection)
Let us also be mindful of those today who are without food and a home.
(Pause for reflection)
And let us remember those whom we love who are not now present at this table.
(Pause for reflection)
Leader Two:
Lord of Gifts, from Your holy heart has come a flood of gifts to us.
With uplifted hearts, we have gathered around this table to thank You with prayer and with the worship of feasting.
We are grateful not only for all the gifts of friendship, love, devotion and forgiveness that we have shared.
On this feast of giving thanks, Lord God, we thank you for showing us how to return thanks by lives of service, by deeds of hospitality, by kindness to a stranger, and by concern for each other.
We are most grateful, this feast day,
for the way You, our hidden God, have become visible to us in one another, in countless daily gifts and in the marvels of creation.
Come, Lord of Gifts,
and bless our table and all the food of this feast.
Let us thank the Lord, today and all days. AMEN.
(Adapted from PRAYERS FOR THE DOMESTIC CHURCH by Edward Hays)
Learn!
Amnesia - The Goat Disease
Hearing of a person who suffers from amnesia can cause us to shudder. To forget one's identity, to lose memory of oneself, and all that we associate with self, is truly a terrible affliction. We are aware that amnesia is caused by a shock, a psychological disturbance, brain injury or illness, bit is less commonly known that it is a goat disease!
We suffer from a form of amnesia whenever we are unable to identify ourselves with the poor and suffering. While most of us feel sad that people are homeless, jobless and living in poverty, we find it difficult, even impossible to identify ourselves with them. This inability to recognize ourselves in the faces of the suffering is a common affliction and is not merely a modern problem. Recall the images Jesus used in his story about the Last Judgment. The saints were separated from the sinners on the basis of amnesia. Those who suffered from that affliction he called goats, placing them on his left and finally sending them off to their reward - hell! They failed to see him, and themselves, in the naked, hungry and the imprisoned.
If you and I are not to suffer from the goat disease, amnesia about our true and corporate identity, we must first learn how to see Christ in ourselves. When we look in the bathroom mirror as we put on our makeup, brush our teeth or shave in the morning, whom do we see? If we cannot see Christ in ourselves, how can we see Christ in the poor and homeless.
Without the discipline of daily personal prayer it is not likely that we will see anyone but ourselves when we look in a mirror. Our primal vocation in this life is learning to know who we are - including our corporate identity - and loving ourselves with all our hearts, souls and bodies. That is no easy task, considering how widespread and contagious is the goat disease. A good preventative prescription for this illness is to keep our relationship with the Divine Healer constantly before us as we go about even the most ordinary task.
( A PILGRIM'S ALMANAC by Edward Hayes)
Hearing of a person who suffers from amnesia can cause us to shudder. To forget one's identity, to lose memory of oneself, and all that we associate with self, is truly a terrible affliction. We are aware that amnesia is caused by a shock, a psychological disturbance, brain injury or illness, bit is less commonly known that it is a goat disease!
We suffer from a form of amnesia whenever we are unable to identify ourselves with the poor and suffering. While most of us feel sad that people are homeless, jobless and living in poverty, we find it difficult, even impossible to identify ourselves with them. This inability to recognize ourselves in the faces of the suffering is a common affliction and is not merely a modern problem. Recall the images Jesus used in his story about the Last Judgment. The saints were separated from the sinners on the basis of amnesia. Those who suffered from that affliction he called goats, placing them on his left and finally sending them off to their reward - hell! They failed to see him, and themselves, in the naked, hungry and the imprisoned.
If you and I are not to suffer from the goat disease, amnesia about our true and corporate identity, we must first learn how to see Christ in ourselves. When we look in the bathroom mirror as we put on our makeup, brush our teeth or shave in the morning, whom do we see? If we cannot see Christ in ourselves, how can we see Christ in the poor and homeless.
Without the discipline of daily personal prayer it is not likely that we will see anyone but ourselves when we look in a mirror. Our primal vocation in this life is learning to know who we are - including our corporate identity - and loving ourselves with all our hearts, souls and bodies. That is no easy task, considering how widespread and contagious is the goat disease. A good preventative prescription for this illness is to keep our relationship with the Divine Healer constantly before us as we go about even the most ordinary task.
( A PILGRIM'S ALMANAC by Edward Hayes)
Do!
How to express gratitude at this time of Year? Here are some suggestions:
Be aware of God's abundant gifts in your life throughout this past year.
Be aware of God's abundant gifts in your life throughout this past year.
- Make a list - as inclusive as possible - of all the blessings you have experienced since last Thanksgiving Day. Pray it as a Litany of Thanks.
- Invite someone to your Thanksgiving table that might otherwise be alone.
- Make amends with an estranged relative(s) and invite them to join your family during the holidays.
- Donate to the Caring Hands Food Pantry.
- Each day extend the generous hospitality that God extends to us. Reach out to family, friends, neighbors, and even those we don't know so well.
