by Fr. Brian Wirth,
Director of Rural Life
“Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. For his mercy endures forever.”
As we are now less than a week away from Thanksgiving, I would like to use this month’s column to prayerfully reflect and marvel over the many ways God has been gracefully working within our diocese and among our diocesan families.
Though this year (like every year) has been full of challenges and sacrifices, nevertheless, I am humbled by God’s providential care and merciful love for us and for his creation in the “Good Life.”
First and foremost, I am eternally thankful for the precious gift of all human life and for our state’s recognition of the inherent goodness of life in the passage of Initiative 434.
Regardless of party affiliation and/or opposing views, please know that this thankfulness is not meant as a political attack. Rather, within the fullness of exercising charity in truth, I wish to put aside all differences and like Elijah and the Gentile widow and her son (1 Kings 17) marvel at the dignity of every life, male and female, and the innate goodness from natural conception to natural death. Similarly, I am thankful for the future generations of farmers and ag workers who will labor lovingly in the Good Life for our nation, and for the world.
Similarly, I am thankful to all farmers who have labored lovingly and successfully completed another fall harvest. In my previous column, I noted how the vocation of the farmer is strikingly similar to that of Jesus; namely, in taking human flesh, Jesus labored lovingly to the point of utter exhaustion, even death itself, to feed the multitudes. Likewise, during the harvest, farmers labor lovingly to the point of utter exhaustion for the sake of feeding the world.
Regardless if this year’s harvest was a bumper crop or no crop at all due to severe weather/natural disaster, or something in between, know that I and countless others in our state and beyond, are thankful. Your tireless work ethic, attention to detail, and virtuous resolve to feed us “through the work of human hands” is a testament to our Catholic Faith. We would not be here today without you as you fill our bodies with physical sustenance so that we may continue to seek in faith the everlasting richness of the spiritual realities.
Third, I am thankful for all of our statewide volunteer fire departments and EMTs who extensively battled extreme drought, harsh wind conditions, and extensive red flag fire warnings this year. This is a notable example of urban and rural communities working together via charitable solidarity. By your efforts, not only were many crops and acres saved, but also preserved were the homes and livelihoods of many of our diocesan families. No harvest would be successful without your tireless work and courageous determination in the face of any/all natural disasters.
Finally, I am thankful to everyone who has diligently prayed for safe, seasonal, and sufficient rainfall. Although much of Nebraska is still in widespread drought, in the last couple of weeks, God has graciously blessed good portions of the diocese and state with beneficial moisture. Praying for rain too is an act of charitable solidarity. I am equally thankful for my brother priests who have graciously prayed Votive Masses for Rain.
There are so many others that I wish to thank, but I do not have enough space to give it adequate justice. That being said, please know that all of the diocesan faithful are in my daily prayers.
Two weeks ago, as I concluded my Saturday by praying Night Prayer, I was in the middle of Psalm 4 and my eyes were opened to the verses:
“'What can bring us happiness?' many say. Let the light of your face shine on us, O Lord.
You have put into my heart a greater joy than they have from abundance of corn and new wine.”
Properly, Psalm 4 is a thanksgiving psalm. The term Eucharist comes from the Greek word eucharistia, meaning “thanksgiving.”
Therefore, while all of us have many things to be thankful for this year, all of the joys “from abundance of corn and new wine” in view of the harvest pales in utter contrast to the thankfulness we owe God in justice for sending us his only begotten Son via the Incarnation to destroy Satan, sin, and death and save us through the Eucharist and Paschal Mystery. Every day, we have the graced privilege of letting the face of God shine on us within the Mass and Eucharistic Adoration. In this Eucharistic revival, what a marvelous gift this is.
Everything within the created universe is grace upon grace, pure gift. As creatures, we are entirely dependent upon God’s grace. Thankfully, through the Eucharist, Jesus is constantly drawing all of creation back to himself. Thus, whenever we express prayers of thanksgiving and more specifically, why we are thankful, such prayers of thanksgiving draw us more intimately into the perfect prayer of adoration.
For this reason, the Catechism states: “Thanksgiving characterizes the prayer of the Church which, in celebrating the Eucharist, reveals and becomes more fully what she is. In the work of salvation, Christ sets creation free from sin and death to consecrate it anew and make it return to the Father for his glory. The thanksgiving of the members of the Body participates in that of their Head.” (CCC #2637)
Therefore brothers and sisters, in view of the Source and Summit of our faith, may this Thanksgiving be a time of prayerful reflection of the many graces God the Father continually bestows upon us, most especially through his Eucharistic and Resurrected Son, Jesus Christ. United as One Body in Christ, know that I am thankful for you all. In thanksgiving, may our joy be complete.
“Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. For his mercy endures forever.”
