Why Eucharist is thanksgiving

The great festival of fall is Thanksgiving. Celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November, it is a wonderful day to join with family and friends to give thanks to God for blessings received.

Pardon me? Only one day to give thanks to God? Preposterous!
 
Saint Benedict the African Catholic Church in Chicago was my teaching parish for the four years that I studied for the priesthood, and the parish has a vibrant gospel choir that rocks the rafters. It is a predominantly Black parish in the Englewood Neighborhood on the South Side. It was so alive and dynamic that even a white boy from south Minneapolis who didn’t have rhythm was waving his arms and stepping and swaying to the music.
 
The choir had a favorite spiritual, composed by Shelby Willis, that it sang at every Thanksgiving Day Mass and for many Sunday Masses throughout the year. The refrain goes like this: “Every day is a day of thanksgiving. God’s been so good to me. Every day He’s blessing me. Every day is a day of thanksgiving. Glorify the Lord today!”
 
It became one of my favorite hymns. When I was ordained a deacon at 
St. Benedict’s, the choir sang it at my ordination Mass, and after I was ordained a priest at St. Odilia’s in Shoreview, MN, the choir sang it again when I returned for our Mass of Thanksgiving in Chicago.

THANK GOD EVERY DAY

Here is the truth about thanksgiving. To thank God only once a year on Thanksgiving Day is wildly off target. Even to thank God once a week is woefully inadequate. God blesses us every day, and we need to be alert and count our blessings. Every new day, every sunrise, every breath, every moment of good health, every meal, our families and friends, our abilities and opportunities, as well as the spiritual gifts of grace, forgiveness, redemption, and salvation, are all blessings from God.
 
Our days should begin and end with prayers of thanksgiving. We should glorify the Lord today and every day with our praise and thanks – in word, in song, and with our good deeds that show our appreciation.

As Catholics, we believe that the best way to offer God our thanks is the sacrifice of the Mass. The Greek word eucharisteo means 
“to give thanks.” The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that the Eucharist “is an act of thanksgiving to God” (No. 1329).

SACRIFICE AS THANKSGIVING

The earliest expressions of a sacrifice of thanksgiving are found in the Old Testament. Today our Eucharistic Prayer I names three persons who did so: “the gifts of your servant Abel the just, the sacrifice of Abraham, our father in faith, and the offering of your high priest Melchizedek.”
 
Abel was one of Adam and Eve’s sons. He was a shepherd, “a herder of flocks” (Gen 4:2), and he brought one of the best “firstlings of his flock” (Gen 4:4a), offered it to God with a pure heart, and the Lord “looked with favor on Abel and his offering” (Gen 4:4b). It is the first sacrifice of praise and thanks in the Bible.

Abraham offered several notable sacrifices. Abram defeated an adversary in battle (Gen 14:17), recovered all his lost possessions (Gen 14:16), and, as a sacrifice of thanks, gave one-tenth of his possessions to God (Gen 14:20). Also, as an act of supreme faith, he was fully prepared to offer his son, Isaac, as a sacrifice to God (Gen 22:1-10), and instead, offered a ram as a holocaust in place of his son (Gen 22:13).

Melchizedek was the king of Salem (i.e., Jerusalem) and a priest of God Most High (Gen 14:18). He is the first person in the Bible to offer bread and wine together. As he did so, he offered God his praise and thanks: “Blessed be God most high” (Gen 14:20a).

The Mosaic Law stipulates the offering of first fruits as an expression of thanks to God for blessings received. Moses taught, “The choicest first fruits of your soil you shall bring to the house of the Lord, your God” (Exod 23:19; 34:26). “The first fruits of your grain, your wine, and your oil, as well as the first shearing of your flock, you shall also give him” (Deut 18:4).

EUCHARISTIC THANKSGIVING

Jesus built upon this rich tradition of thanksgiving sacrifices. On Holy Thursday, when Jesus instituted the Eucharist, “He took the cup and gave thanks” (Luke 22:17), and “He also took bread and gave thanks” (Luke 22:19; see also 1 Cor 11:24). Jesus used the berakah, the Jewish meal prayer that offers God praise and thanks. Jesus has given us a model to follow: if Jesus gave thanks, so should we.

The entire Mass is a prayer of thanksgiving, which is stated explicitly in some prayers and implied in others. As the Preface begins, the priest invites the assembly, “Let us give thanks to the Lord our God,” 
and the congregation responds, “It is right and just.” The Preface continues, “It is truly right and just, our duty and salvation, always and everywhere to give you thanks.”

After receiving Holy Communion is an ideal time to spend a moment in silent prayer, recall blessings received over the past week, and then to offer Jesus our sincere and heartfelt thanks. It is right to glorify the Lord today!

FATHER MICHAEL VAN SLOUN is director of clergy services 
for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.