Happy Thanksgiving from St. Andrew's

Dear Friends,

Happy Thanksgiving!

Though ostensibly a secular national holiday, Thanksgiving is deeply consonant with our Christian tradition. “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,” the Psalmist implores us. Jesus took the bread at supper with his friends and “gave thanks.” There are also a couple hundred other instances. This thing we do today is all over the Bible.

As a holiday, thanksgiving has arguably proven more resistant than either Christmas or Easter to crass commercialization. I would argue this is because there is something intrinsically religious about setting aside a day for thanksgiving. One can only spend so much time thinking of things to be thankful for before one has to start wondering, “To whom am I thankful?”

We know the answer. We give thanks today and we give that thanks to God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Among my many thanksgivings today, I am thankful for St. Andrew's. I am thankful for the work we get to do in Christ's name, for the generosity of our people that makes it happen, for the amazing group of people God has brought together here, and for the work and power of the Holy Spirit in our midst. Thanks be to God!

I close with the Collect for Thanksgiving Day from the Book of Common Prayer (if you get called upon to say the blessing at the meal today, you could probably do worse than cribbing from this):

Almighty and gracious Father, we give you thanks for the fruits of the earth in their season and for the labors of those who harvest them. Make us, we pray, faithful stewards of your great bounty, for the provision of our necessities and the relief of all who are in need, to the glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

In Christ,

Fr. Andrew