Thoughts on Eucharist, Thanksgiving, and the Family during the month of Thanksgiving and 25 years since Familiaris Consortio

 

A Letter to my Catholic Brothers and Sisters, Though a Letter that May Help Other Members of the Human Family

 

Yes, it is that time of year again for turkey and togetherness, that time of year close to the close of the year, with the great Holiday of Christmas near, but with also the great Holyday of Christmas near. Even in an age in which it may seem that the family is under brutal attack and the push for individualism is gaining more ground, do not the days of Thanksgiving and Christmas appear to cry out: FAMILY? This year this “Family Day” of Thanksgiving is November 23. It was November 22 in 1981 that Pope John Paul II’s Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris Consortio (FC) was given. I have started to read this Apostolic Exhortation, and it might help for me to share some of what I’ve read. 

Early on in FC, John Paul II says, “the Christian family, in fact, is the first community called to announce the Gospel to the human person during growth and to bring him or her, through a progressive education and catechesis, to full human and Christian maturity” (number 2, [http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_jp-ii_exh_19811122_familiaris-consortio_en.html] [Copyright, Libreria Editrice Vaticana]). Let us pay attention to that word “community”.  John Paul II said, “The family, which is founded and given life by love, is a community of persons: of husband and wife, of parents and children, of relatives. Its first task is to live with fidelity the reality of communion in a constant effort to develop an authentic community of persons. The inner principle of that task, its permanent power and its final goal is love: without love the family is not a community of persons and, in the same way, without love the family cannot live, grow and perfect itself as a community of persons” (FC, n. 18). These may be hard words for us to read, and hard words to live by. To be sure, as John Paul II said, “Family communion can only be preserved and perfected through a great spirit of sacrifice. It requires, in fact, a ready and generous openness of each and all to understanding, to forbearance, to pardon, to reconciliation” (FC, n. 21). But let us be encouraged by John Paul II’s words: “In particular, participation in the sacrament of Reconciliation and in the banquet of the one Body of Christ offers to the Christian family the grace and the responsibility of overcoming every division and of moving towards the fullness of communion willed by God” (FC, n. 21).  

In the Sacraments, we can find strength for living properly. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says: “the sacraments… give growth and healing” (Catechism of the Catholic Church [Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1994; English translation for the United States of America – United States Catholic Conference, Inc.–Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1994], n. 798). The Catechism also says: “they manifest and communicate… above all in the Eucharist, the mystery of communion with the God who is love, One in three persons” (n. 1118).

This Thanksgiving season, let us try, whether we will be with family or not, to think about and be thankful for the Eucharist, which “is an action of thanksgiving to God. The Greek words eucharistein… and eulogein… recall the Jewish blessings that proclaim… God’s works: creation, redemption, and sanctification” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1328, see notes/footnotes 139 and 140 of this number “139 Cf. Lk 22:19; 1 Cor 11:24.” “140 Cf. Mt 26:26; Mk 14:22.”). Let us be thankful everyday for the Eucharist. Let us be thankful for all that we should be thankful for.

If thanksgiving is gratitude, we might ask: “Where gratitude is, isn’t selfishness absent?” Let us try to be grateful. But if we are not grateful at times, let us not beat ourselves up because of that.  

Let us – both as individuals and families – also remember those who can use our assistance. John Paul II said in Familiaris Consortio, “Family fecundity must have an unceasing 'creativity,' a marvelous fruit of the Spirit of God, who opens the eyes of the heart to discover the new needs and sufferings of our society and gives courage for accepting them and responding to them. A vast field… lies open to families: today, even more preoccupying than child abandonment is the phenomenon of social and cultural exclusion, which seriously affects the elderly, the sick, the disabled, drug addicts, ex-prisoners, etc.” (n. 41)

Let us each seek to “become a source from which rivers of living water flow (cf. Jn 7:37-38)”, which requires that we “constantly drink anew from the original source, which is Jesus Christ, from whose pierced heart flows the love of God (cf. Jn 19:34)” (Benedict XVI, Encyclical Letter, Deus Caritas Est, n. 7, 25 December 2005, [http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20051225_deus-caritas-est_en.html] [Copyright 2005, Libreria Editrice Vaticana]). For this goal, let us also turn to Mary. “The words addressed by the crucified Lord to his disciple—to John and through him to all disciples of Jesus: ‘Behold, your mother!’ (Jn 19:27)—are fulfilled anew in every generation. Mary has truly become the Mother of all believers. Men and women of every time and place have recourse to her motherly kindness and her virginal purity and grace, in all their needs and aspirations, their joys and sorrows, their moments of loneliness and their common endeavours. They constantly experience the gift of her goodness and the unfailing love which she pours out from the depths of her heart” (Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas Est, n. 42).

In the words of John Paul II in 2004, “May Mary, Mother of God, teach us to be grateful to the Lord for all that nature and human labour produce for our sustenance, and may she make us willing to share our resources with those in need” (John Paul II, Angelus, n. 3, 14 November 2004, [http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/angelus/2004/documents/hf_jp-ii_ang_20041114_en.html]).

First given on November 10, 2006, the Memorial of Pope St. Leo the Great.

 

Pope St. Leo the Great, pray for us