St. Mary's Catholic Church of Tomahawk, WI

Thanksgiving Day

Dear friends, happy Thanksgiving Day to everyone. Thanksgiving Day is something great we all celebrate. The whole world celebrates this feast depending on their customs and traditions and in a convenient time of the year. In the U.S. we celebrate it on the 4th Thursday of November and we all look forward to it. It is a joyous family celebration. Basically, the festival of Thanksgiving Day is the day of commemorating a feast held by the pilgrim colonists and all people in 1621. On this day people express gratitude of thankfulness to God for His blessings and pay their thanks to near and dear ones for their immense love and support in their lives. The most integral part of the celebration of Thanksgiving Day is a family feast where the entire family comes together and offers prayers to God for His continuous blessings and then they share a meal together. Traditional turkey, pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce, and corn are some of the favorite dishes that are served on this special day.

The word Eucharist is derived from the Greek

word Eucharistia, which means “Thanksgiving”. There is no greater way to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday than to celebrate the Eucharist or Holy Mass. St. John Marie Vianney famously said, “There is nothing so great as the Eucharist. If God had something more precious, He would have given it to us”. The Eucharist shoul

d always be before us and should be the way we mark important events and days throughout our lives. On this day, in a special manner, recall all that you have received from God and your neighbor and thank them from your heart as you share a meal together. As you give thanks and share, you will receive many more blessings. That is Thanksgiving Day.

Advent

The word “Advent” comes from the Latin word meaning “coming”. Jesus is coming and Advent is intended to be a season of spiritual preparation for his arrival. It is a period of self-preparation by prayer, penance and fasting. The purple color that we use in the liturgical celebrations is associated with Advent and is also the color of penance. The liturgical color of the third week in Advent is rose, which symbolizes the joy and happiness that we are going to experience when Jesus comes again. The third Sunday is a day of anticipatory celebration. It is formerly called “Gaudete” Sunday: Gaudete means “rejoice” in Latin.

As we enter into the season of Advent, let us give importance to the self-preparation needed to receive Christ into our lives and hearts. Allow the spirit of Jesus Christ to rule us. Let the Word of Christ lead us in our spiritual journey. Let us prepare by prayer and penance and by dispelling the sin and darkness from our lives by which Christ alone can come into our lives. What a joy to receive Christ into our lives. Let us wait on him with great desire and be ready to celebrate Christmas with Christ.