Faith

Now thank we all our God . . .

Friday, November 21, 2025Faith

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I wish you and yours health, cheer, and blessing for Thanksgiving. I am grateful for the gift of this Church of Boston and its generous faithful clergy, religious, and lay faithful.

Archbishop Richard G.
Henning

I have always loved Thanksgiving. As a child, I enjoyed being together with extended family and the traditions of the holiday. For my family, that meant morning Mass and then a family football game at the park. My Mom was happy to have us out of the way for a few hours, and it was great to be with the cousins. It was also wonderful to return home and open the door to the smell of the cooking feast. The meal was always as noisy as it was delicious. Another delight of Thanksgiving was the long weekend that followed and the volume of leftovers to fuel more family adventure.
Over the years, my appreciation for the holiday has only deepened. The Eucharist itself is thanksgiving to God, and I have learned to treasure those Masses on Thanksgiving morning. Even though Mass is not an obligation on Thanksgiving, so many people instinctively go to church. Likewise, I have seen the warmth of the human family and the family of faith as people are reminded to do for others who may be hungry or lonely.
As one of the seven heavenly virtues, gratitude is foundational to the Christian life. It is the proper response to the generosity of God's grace. The Eucharist is an act of thanksgiving because it is participation in the Lord's greatest gift, the trusting self-offering of the Son for the salvation of the world. It is not a gift that we could earn or accomplish for ourselves. Nonetheless, Our Heavenly Father, ever faithful and with enduring love, gives us the gift of God's Own Heart, Jesus Christ. And so, we echo our thanksgiving for this gift across the generations.
Genuine gratitude also brings a sense of humility and undergirds solidarity with others. The Eucharist sends us forth to live the mystery that has touched our lives and that living is governed by the call to love as we have been loved. A grateful heart is an understanding and compassionate heart.
I wish you and yours health, cheer, and blessing for Thanksgiving. I am grateful for the gift of this Church of Boston and its generous faithful clergy, religious, and lay faithful. I pray that God will inspire each of us to an ever-deeper sense of gratitude. May that gratitude turn us to God in prayer and to one another in generosity and compassion. I hope that we give voice to our gratitude to and for those who bring joy to our lives, and I hope that we all find ways to share our blessings near and far for those in need.
Now thank we all our God, with heart and hands and voices,
Who wondrous things has done, in Whom this world rejoices;
Who from our mothers' arms has blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love, and still is ours today.

- Archbishop Richard G. Henning is the Archbishop of Boston