Thanksgiving Day Mass

Thanksgiving Day Mass

I got up a little early this morning and dressed in my dark blue slacks and long-sleeved grey thermal shirt. It’s been pretty mild this fall and on this Thanksgiving Day it’s in the mid-40s outside. I’m on my way to mass. Not too long ago, I would have slept in on one of three days of the year when most everything is closed for the holiday, but today, I am going to mass.

            I grew up Catholic in a family where we went to mass almost every day and when you do that, it quickly becomes a chore. Mass everyday before school and mass on Sunday. Only on Saturdays and during the summer were we free from our obligations. Sometimes, we were tasked with going to mass twice in one week when one of the nine holy days of obligation scattered throughout the year fell on a weekday or worse, on a Saturday. As a Catholic, you sometimes get lazy and try to find the shortest and easiest mass to attend. Eventually, I lost my way and decided that I was in control of my own destiny and that I could do as I pleased.

            But these days, I’m different. I have found my faith again. It began some years ago, but became much more important to me when I began attending church with my mother after my father died. I started going to her to the church I grew up in until the archdiocese decided to bring in a new pastor that my mother didn’t like. My mother wanted to find a church where they still celebrated the high mass with all the pomp and circumstance, so up the hill we went to St. Thomas Aquinas.

            At first, I was unhappy. This mass was longer with processions in and out of the mass, a full choir where all of the prayers were sung and the homilies long. Still, my mother loved the mass, and we turned it into a morning, going to breakfast after mass and sometimes even a little shopping. Over the years, I began to pay more attention to what was being said from the pulpit. Monsignor was not political. Instead, he concentrated on scripture, what it meant to us and why our most important task as Catholics and Christians was to live a good Christian life, practice the sacraments and minister to the world. For the first time in perhaps my entire Catholic life, I was beginning to understand my faith. I began to look forward to spending time at mass.

            The Advent and Easter seasons are the most important times of year for the Catholic faith and Thanksgiving is sometimes the unofficial beginning to Advent. That’s why it was so important for me to go to mass today. The first thing I noticed when I walked into the church was the absence of collection boxes. Right away, the tone was set. This mass was about praising giving thanks for the blessings, too numerous to count, that have been bestowed upon us all. There was a full choir including a children’s choir. In addition, was a trumpeter and a percussionist who supplied tympani and glockenspiel.

            The choir sang with the children pantomiming the words to start the procession. A hearty greeting from the priest reminding us of our blessings and asking for prayers for our families, friends and for those serving in the military and away from home. As the mass got underway, our usual prayers were punctuated with special music from the choir. An extra organist was brought in so that our usual organist and music director could direct the choir in the special music and arrangements. The alleluia before the gospel had an added fanfare from the trumpeter.

            The homily was a re-reading and interpretation of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians who is giving thanks for God’s grace on the congregation at Corinth for their acceptance of God’s word and the hope that they will not be lacking in any spiritual gift. It was also a prayer for us to persevere and continue to hope in Christ.

            During the mass, I look around at the faces of the congregants. This mass, like all others, I see not only reverence but understanding. I see people who have come to church for the same reason that I do, to hear the word of God. I also see an appreciation of the mass. A genuine celebration of who we are as a church. The rest of the mass is equally joyous with more singing and the church wholeheartedly invested in prayer.

            Finally, we reach the end, the priest thanks us for our attendance and asks us to show our appreciation for the choir, the acolytes, eucharistic ministers and ushers, which we do enthusiastically. As is tradition in our church, we sing America (My Country ‘Tis of Thee) and everyone joins in. The song, using the British melody “God Save the Queen” with lyrics penned in 1831 by Samuel Francis Smith seems outdated at first, but as the lyrics unfold you hear that it is an anthem of gratitude for this land and a prayer that praises God and asks that he might continue to bless us and our freedoms. After the hymn, once again the congregation breaks out in applause.

            I leave the church feeling indeed, thankful for my life, my faith and my world. I find myself a world away from where I was in my youth. Drunk, whoring and extremely unhappy. I was chasing something that wasn’t there or at least didn’t satisfy my needs. My world hasn’t changed much. My problems are pretty much the same. I’m still financially challenged. I hold my addictions at bay, and my insecurities are no less bothersome than they have always been. The difference is that I have faith that God will take care of everything, and for that, I am thankful.