I am sure that you
notice that in recent years, people have begun to call Thanksgiving by another name: Turkey
Day. On other holidays like Columbus Day, George Washington's Birthday, and
Memorial Day, we pay our respects to those we are remembering, but on how easy
we change the names of other holidays such Thanksgiving and Christmas![1]
There's
a reason—a disturbing reason—for the name change. When people sit down before
the table on Thanksgiving Day, they
still sense that they must bow their heads and give thanks. Let's be very
honest: we live in a society that sometimes wants to take God out. So, some are
trying to discard the name Thanksgiving
and to forsake the traditions on this holiday which kept God at the center.
Why
are so many ungrateful to God for His blessings? Well, the fundamental reason
is that we are too prosperous. After the exodus from Egypt, God told the people
of Israel that He was leading them to a great land. It would be a land
overflowing with milk and honey. So, after occupying their new country, they
could expect a life of prosperity. But God warned them that with prosperity
would come the danger of forgetting God. They would be tempted to look around
at their wealth and say to themselves, "By our hands, by our labor, we
have achieved this; we have built a good life for ourselves." They would
take credit for what God had given them…
Well,
the same mentality exists in America today. We enjoy prosperity, and yet we
fail to recognize that its source is God. Why? We take our wealth for granted.
We feel we deserve it. We imagine that we created it. It is a funny thing about
human beings that we are more thankful when we are suffering poverty than when
they are enjoying plenty. In Little House
in the Big Woods, the author describes how new pioneers living on the edge
of subsistence celebrated Christmas. Each of the older children received
exactly two presents (a pair of mittens and a piece of candy), and in addition
one of the younger children received a home-made rag doll. Were the children
unhappy and ungrateful because their gifts were so meager? On the contrary, the
author concludes her reminiscences by saying, "What a happy Christmas it had
been!"[2].
Perhaps
you say, "Others may have the problem of being too rich, but not me. I'm not
rich." Because we know people who have bigger houses and cars than we
have, most of us feel that we are just average folks. In relation to all the
people living in past generations, in relation to the vast majority of people
around the world today we are amazingly wealthy. Think of it. What are you
lacking that you could reasonably want? We have more clothing in our closet
than many of our ancestors possessed in a whole lifetime. Our houses and
gardens would, in past generations, have set us just below the highest nobility…
Too often I think of my brother priests in other countries without the economic
resources that I have, and they do not complain. They work much, much more.
Although
prosperity is a blessing from God, it is, as we have said, a danger also. It
can have a disturbing effect on our love for God and on our gratitude for His
blessings. What is the remedy? Should we give away our goods and take a vow of
poverty? That might work. But it might not. With poverty might come bitterness
rather than gratitude. I think God prefers that we take the following, more
practical, measures to guard our spiritual health in the midst of material
wealth.
Let's
give thanks this morning (night) for what we have, but mostly always ask to
have a grateful heart, a heart that is more attentive to the spiritual than
material. On Sunday we said that the most important is the salvation of our
souls. Today I ask God for this favor in the Eucharist ■
[1] Readings: Sirach 50:22-24, Psalm
138:1-5, 1 Corinthians 1:3-9, Luke 17:11-19
[2] Little House in the Big Woods is a children's novel by Laura
Ingalls Wilder published in 1932. The book is the first in the Little House series, which is based on
decades-old memories of Wilder's early childhood in the Big Woods near Pepin,
Wisconsin, in the late 19th century.
