A Thanksgiving Day Homily
November 25, 2021
How good is God?
Did you ever take time to reflect on that question? If you’re like me, probably not. Of course, we acknowledge it enough. If you’ve received a promotion, a raise, a new car, a bigger home, a good report from the doctor, a healthy baby delivered, or that job you’ve always wanted . . . you’ve probably said these words: “God is SO good!” And you’re absolutely right . . . He is. The words just find their voice without much thought. And maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe that’s the way it should be. We know God is good. We take it for granted, because . . . He IS!
At some times in our lives, we might question the goodness of God, especially at times of national or international calamity and, most especially, at times of personal despair, hardship, loss, tragedy or illness. We might look towards heaven with tears in our eyes and ask “why.” Why God this dreadful and deadly coronavirus? Why God do I hurt so much when I give so much of myself to others and all I want back is a little love? Why God do I work so hard but I’m having such a tough time making ends meet? Why God did you take my beloved one? My heart is breaking. How can I go on? Why God am I suffering so horribly? I’ve tried to be good all my life, go to Mass every Sunday, pray so hard. How can this be happening to me?
Yet, even in these most difficult times, I think we know that God is good. It’s just that we don’t understand how these things can be happening, and our pain hinders us from realizing what we know down to the deepest recesses of our hearts and with true and sincere faith, that God IS good.
The goodness of God speaks to His personal character - who He is in relationship to us. In all ways and in all things, God is good. He is never absent, disinterested, careless, ill-tempered, petty, spiteful, or mean. He always does what is right, faithful, kind, and true. He doesn’t just do good - He is good. It’s His DNA (if God had DNA). God’s goodness is based on His character. He is good and He is good all the time. He does good because He is good.
God’s goodness is seen in his justice. "He makes his sun rise on the bad and the good and causes rain to fall on the just and unjust." (Mt 5:45). He is “a God gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in love and fidelity, continuing his love for a thousand generations, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin; yet not declaring the guilty guiltless but bringing punishment upon them.” (Exodus 34: 6-7)
God’s goodness is seen in his mercy. Jesus told the disciples at the Last Supper, “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Pope Francis said, “Jesus Christ is the face of God’s mercy.” He shows us what it means to be merciful: He healed the sick, welcomed the stranger and pardoned those who persecuted and killed him.
God’s goodness is seen in his bountiful benevolence. Jesus said, “Ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, ask and the door will be open. For anyone who asks receives, anyone who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks the door will be open” (Matthew 7: 7-8). And in the Gospel stories of the wedding feast at Cana and the multiplication of the loaves and fish, we see the extent to which God gives – always the best and always more than we need. God is never outdone in generosity.
Today is Thanksgiving Day. But shouldn’t every day be a thanksgiving day? Unfortunately, our society has an uncanny knack for taking something good, beautiful, noble and worthwhile and slowly transforming it to something “other.” Nice . . . but less than what it originally was and still should be. So somewhere in the midst of the turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce and pie . . . some time before, during or after the parade and the football games, let’s not forget what it’s all about: “It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere to give you thanks, Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God, through Christ our Lord.”
And so, I’ll ask again, “Have you ever reflected on how good is God?” If you’re like me, probably not. And if we did, I don’t think we would ever be off our knees thanking Him.”
In 1998, before I was ordained, I was asked to write a Thanksgiving reflection for the Thanksgiving Day Mass at St. Therese. I said “yes” but later wished I hadn’t. You see, my mother had died earlier that year, and as I struggled to write that reflection, I was stymied by my feeling, “What do I have to be thankful for this year.” After hours, days and weeks staring at a blank computer screen, I decided the day before Thanksgiving to offer my apologies to the pastor the next day for letting him and the parish down. But at 4:00 AM Thanksgiving morning, I woke with a start, jumped out of bed and rushed to my computer. I had somehow discovered that I had a lot to be thankful for:
Lord, how quickly the pages of the calendar have turned and another Thanksgiving Day is upon us. And so, as I pause and reflect, a mind full of memories rush to find expression as a heart full of gratitude wells up within me.
Thank you, Lord, for the splendor of your creation; for the beauty of the world around me, for green pastures and still waters and for tall trees that bow their heads prayerfully in the wind. I thank you for the colors with which you paint the seasons and for the passing of those seasons that has brought us to this day: for the snow glistened winter and the dogwood spring, for the watermelon summer and the russet and gold autumn.
Thank you, Lord, for this great land, for its bounty and its liberty, for the privilege of democracy and the gift of peace. Thank you for the goodness of our people and for the spirit of justice that fills this nation. I thank you today for the brave people of our land who are more interested in being right than in being popular, and for those who are willing to support a good cause publicly even though they know that the cause may not succeed.
I offer you my thanks today for the gift of family - for all those who will gather around my Thanksgiving table, and for those who break bread at other tables this year. I thank you too for those who share with you in the heavenly banquet, those who you have called home and into your embrace. Thank you for relieving their pain and suffering and thank you for all the memories that keep them alive in my mind and in my heart.
I’m grateful, Lord, for friends who continue to be friends even after they have known me well. For those whose nods, winks, and smiles celebrated my joys and triumphs, and whose broad shoulders bore my burdens and lifted me with their compassion. Thank you for all those who have come into my life this year, for older people who have shared with me the wisdom of their yesterdays, and for the young whose enthusiasm and zest for life give me hope for tomorrow.
I’m thankful for the talents of others and for those who share them so generously with us, and for advances in technology and medicine that promise us a better day in the future. And I thank you for work which challenges the talents with which I have been blessed, and for weekends and holidays and holy days which refresh my spirit. For days of pomp and pageantry and parade, and for moments of quiet solitude, I thank you.
I give thanks to you today for the wonder of life, the mystery of love, and the gift of faith. For the sound of music that fills my soul, for the sound of laughter that lifts my spirit, and for the sound of crying that moves my heart with compassion.
I thank you for cloudy days which help me appreciate the sunshine; for tears, which help me appreciate laughter; for pain which helps me appreciate health; for weakness through which I’ve discovered my strength; for sorrow, hurt, and loss through which I have discovered the depth of my own heart; and for failure which has led me to discover my dependence on you.
I thank you for the Church, for its teaching which informs me, and for its saints that inspire me. For the priests, deacons, brothers and sisters who proclaim the gospel, not merely by word but through their tireless dedication to you and your people. For my fellow parishioners who fold their hands in prayer on Sunday morning and who extend their hands in service and generosity throughout the week.
But most of all Lord, I thank you for you! I thank you for simply being God and for loving me with a Father’s love. For sending your Son to us - for the example of his life and for the redemption that his death and resurrection has won. And for the gift of your Spirit, who guides me along the path which I pray someday will lead me home to you.
For all of this Lord I offer my thanks to you on this Thanksgiving Day.
