The team at FRESHImage prays that you and your family have a very blessed and restful Thanksgiving!
In celebrating this day with family and friends, keep in mind that this holiday shares much in common with the sacrament which makes the Church, the Eucharist. The word Eucharist comes from the Greek eucharistia, which means giving thanks. Accordingly, for Christians, Thanksgiving is an opportunity to reflect on the eucharistic nature of our lives.
As you sit around the table take a moment to notice God’s goodness that surrounds you in the food, and most especially in the faces of family and friends. All of it is reflective of God’s grace and a call to imitate the very life of God revealed in Christ.
The food before you, which is the fruit of the earth and work of human hands, reminds us of the eucharistic elements of bread and wine, which when consecrated and consumed, are meant to consume us, transforming us into the very Body of Christ. The faces around you, then, become the receivers of the gift we are to become one to another out of love. Just as Christ says, “This is my body, given for you,” we too are to live so as to echo Christ’s words of love, “This is my body, this is my life, given for all of you.”
Let this become the meaning of your Thanksgiving this year, and put it into practice through the use of the Church’s Thanksgiving table blessing.
The Thanksgiving Table Blessing can be found here.
And make some time to reflect on the meaning of this beautiful blessing our essay on Christifying Thanksgiving here.
Please share with others so that many might make this year’s celebration of Thanksgiving at once more focused on Christ, and Eucharistic!
And remember, Advent is just around the corner. Be sure to join us for a FRESH Advent, by visiting our Advent homepage and sign up for our email list so you don’t miss out on free resources to help you on your journey through this most august penitential season as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of Our Savior, Jesus Christ here: https://freshimage.org/a-fresh-advent/
Your servants in Christ,
The FRESHImage Team
FRESHImage is a not for profit Catholic apostolate, aimed at providing individuals and communities with the resources to facilitate the full flourishing of the image of God in each and every single human person. When you live a FRESH life, you are a breath of God’s fresh, life-giving air to the world!