Advent - Here We Go Again!

Here we go again !

If your honest that feeling, that sentiment, that statement has popped into your head. The month of December has arrived, the signs of the Season are around us, jingles are in the air and department store flyers are in our mailboxes. Here we go again ! It’s a natural feeling. We all fall victim to it. The hectic pace of the weeks to come, and all there is to do, make us say it. But alas, this is why we have Advent!

Advent, is our spiritual “getting ready” for Christmas period. We try to put into four weeks all the hoping, longing, preparing. In Advent, wait for Jesus:

...We wait for His grace and mercy, sure to come;

...We wait for Him to answer our prayers, sure He will, but unsure when, where, or how;

...We wait for reasons to explain suffering, struggle, and worries;

...We wait for Him to call us to be with Him for all eternity.

And, lest we forget, the Lord waits for us!

...Jesus waits for us to open up to His grace and mercy;

...Jesus waits for us to admit that, as a matter of fact, we do need a Savior!

...Jesus waits for us to admit that He is the answer to the questions our lives of searching pose.

...Jesus waits for our ultimate return to Him, for He “has gone to prepare a place for us.”

But waiting is a pain - we like action ! We prefer motion, movement. We get irritable if we have to wait in line, or for an appoinment, or even in traffic. So why do we wait ?

This week I went to the bank. I am sorry to report that the Bank was not giving out any free samples! I became perplexed, however, as I walked into the bank. I couldn’t figure it out. There was a Secuirty Guard there - just sitting - seemingly waiting and watching. Why I wondered - what are they looking for ? Who are they looking for. So, being the shy bashful person that I am - I asked him “What are you waiting for?” As the guard, whose name I discovered was Alex, stood in the freezing cold of last Friday night, he replied "I don’t know Father ! But when I see it - I will know!"

We are waiting.and in the busyness, in the “here we go again” moment, we don’t sometimes know for what. Yet in the waiting is the very arrival.Waiting makes us, alert, attentive, aware. It makes us  poised, prepared, present. It makes us focussed and above all it forces us to "savour for a saviour". 

Just like someone - “on guard” even during the frigid cold - duty bound, honour committed, we too as His Disciples - are invited to be waiting for that moment - that chance, that conversation, that casual encounter - where He will make Himself known, more clearly understood, more firmly focussed in our life ! The wait might make us say - here we go again. But in the wait is once again - that encounter with the Lord - parallelled by the Magi & Shepherds - that will help us see and be - His light!  

I sincerely hope that this Advent, you won’t mind the wait, even if at times you are not sure you know what you are waiting for - See Christ does:

He will use this wait to bless you - if you simply use the wait

He will use this wait to encourage you - if you simply don’t waste the wait

He will use this wait to bring you closer to Him - if you simply don’t worry about the wait

Just be determined this Advent to know that deep down inside, cradled in the soul, where no one but the One who counts can detect, is a moment for which God is waiting to be re-born in your life. We just have to wait to see it - embrace it and maybe even accept it. Advent can do that.

So here is your homework - for the next four weeks:

- when the traffic gets packed

- when the shopping line gets long

- when the picking up of your newspaper required chiracpractor care because of its thinkness

- when the extent of your patience is frilled

- when the desire to scream is real

Don’t say - "here we go again" - or worst - but rather - "Come, Lord Jesus!” - it will make the wait truly worth it !

Make Him King !

Occasionally, I like to go out and have a plate of nachos! You know a plate of nice chips with salsa, some chicken or beef - and then to keep my doctor happy - I make sure there is lettuce & tomatoes on it so it resembles healthy salad type stuff. I enjoy trying different places - a few locals watering holes and a couple not so local - but either way you meet interesting people along the way, and see interesting spots. One watering hole - had a sign near its entrance - we are the King of Quenching Your Thirst!

It made me pause and ponder a bit in between the salsa and jalapenos - - what do people thirst for? In Haiti - where we are trying to aid the Sisters of St Joseph in building a well - people thirst for simple water - something we take for granted. But our thirst is actually even greater than their thirst; we thirst for understanding, we thirst for relationships - meaningful ones, we thirst for direction - we thirst for ways to be heard, we thirst for sympathy - we thirst for justice and fairness. So which King will Quench our Thirst and where will our watering hole be ?

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King and I would like to share with you why He should be the King of Quenching Your Thirst. Blessed John Paul II spoke early in his life as Pope of the call to “put out into the deep”. His was a convincing call to Mission and Evangelization. His was an invitation to see all within the world, our very lives - even the things we thirst for - to be found within the beauty and power of the Gospel. He told us though that this would be found, first and foremost, in one place - The Family.

The Family is the foundational place of spiritual formation. It is the place of apprenticeship - training in holiness - How ?

1. Loving God First

The family must be the place where God is honoured. Our call as we thirst is to love God - above all things - and to Honour Him and His Day. This can be difficult in today’s society because so many things pull families in various directions. But what happens when you are pulled in various directions is that eventually you are pulled apart. Something - someone - must be your unifying centre - it must be God

Do you thirst for harmony in your marriage ? Do you thirst for serenity in your family ?

Don’t put fleeting things first - Love God First - make Him King !

2. Service

The family must be the place where service is seen. One of the things in our parish family we seek to be good at - always trying for better - is to serve one another:

• Red Stocking Campaign
• Neighbourhood Ministry and Lend A Hand Appeal
• Haiti Mission Work (Coins for Change, Milk Bag Mats, Catholic Cafe)
• Service Saturdays/Green Bag Saturday
• Food Drives
• Blanket Brigade and Ready Day One Back Packs
• Roses for Life Appeal and Baby Shower for Michael House
• 40 Days for Life
• Commitment to Orphanage in Bethlehem

In our world which creates illusive images of happiness to tempt us, cars, mansions, fine clothes, latest toys - tempt us to become someone other than ourselves. Service to others makes us real, shows if we are real. The real us comes out when we give of our real ourselves to another in need.  Who we really are comes out when we lend a hand.

Do you thirst for something that will fill the emptiness you feel some days?

Do you thirst for something that will satisfy the hole you feel in your life for meaning and purpose?

Don’t Use Visa First - Serve Another and God First - make Him King !

3. Forgiveness

The family must be the place where forgiveness is taught. In our weakness we hurt one another - we fail to be there for a friend, we fail to support a sibling, we fail to sustain a spouse in their need. We let down, get down on, or rip down another, and when it is someone we love - it hurts all the more!  Yet when the hurt is there so is the temptation toward revenge, resentment, retribution, and these seek to be King in our life - but the only thing they do is make us dry. Dry and thirsty - for a peace found only in Forgiveness

Do you thirst for a restoration in a relationship?

Do you thirst for a refreshment in conversation with spouse, sibling, significant friend ?

Don’t get back first - Seek Forgiveness from Another and God First - make Him King !

Let me conclude with this. Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the Archbishop of New York spoke recently about the celebration of Thanksgiving in the United States. He remarked that it, along with other major celebrations  — are in jeopardy. He writes in a recent column for his Archdiocesan Newspaper; "The stores, we hear, will open on Thanksgiving. Isn’t that a sign of progress and liberation? Sorry, but no — it’s a sign of a further descent into a highly privatized, impersonal, keep-people-at-a-distance culture, one that values having stuff and doing things over just being with people whom we love, cherish and appreciate."

As you make your priorities this week - Who is your King? Is their an idol which takes over your priorities making the watering hole from which your thirst is quenched different than the life giving water found in being an apprentice of Christ and His ways?

Will you allow a little forgivness, a slight bit of service and just a touch of loving God first into the picture of your week ? Your day? Makes these beacons for time and as a result - Make Him King.

BUSY! B-U-S-Y

There is a terrible four letter word in our society. People use it all the time and they don’t know its effects on others. People have gotten into the habit of saying it and don’t even know it sometimes. People use it with a frequency in fact that has made it almost acceptable. I am speaking about the word - BUSY! B-U-S-Y

Ever notice how much we use it:

 I am too busy, life is too busy,

 Don’t have time for that its busy season,

 Are you kidding, can’t get another thing into the schedule I am busy,

 No can’t get involved, I am busy

 Don’t have time to read that story - too busy

 Nope I can’t take that call, sorta busy

 No, No....don’t have time to chat - I am on the run - really busy!

Now when it happens at work or with our social life - that is one thing, but when it enters our family life or our spiritual life - now that is another. Busyness and hectic pace is the greatest trial to relationships, friendship, family life and even spirituality. To make time, to respond in time, to give time, to surrender time is the toughest thing these days - it’s the plaque of the 21st century!

In the Readings from God’s Word today we hear the importantce of discerning our time: giving it or surrendering it:

In the First Reading (1King 17:10-16) we are introduced to Elijah, a Prophet of the Lord who is on a journey. He is faced with hunger and approaches a poor widow seeking something to eat. Now imagine if the Widow said she was too busy and did not share the morsels of Bread she had - in that busyness she would have missed the moment when the Lord decided He could do an amazing thing and fed her and her household with that small morsel for many days. God did because she didn't claim to be busy.

In the 2nd Reading Gospel - Letter the Hebrews - (9:24-28), imagine if the receivers of the message had been too busy to receive it. They would have missed that moment to remember all of who Christ is and what Christ had done in their life and that of the community. They heard the good news, were encouraged in their path because they did not claim to be busy.

In the Gospel (Mark 12:38-44) - the poor Widow - imagine if she had not made time to come to the Temple (Church) and given what she could - surrendered her resources - she would not of become a great witness to others, and would not have met Jesus! Both became possible because she did not claim to be busy.

This does not mean they were not busy, it just means they did not allow their busyness to stop them from responding. Busyness is not only plaque - it’can be a bit of an excuse too! Yes we are all busy, no doubt, but we must discern in the busyness not only our priorities, but also God’s priorities for us. For time is like the stewardship of money - we can throw it all around and accomplish nothing with, or we can invest it wisely in the things that will bear much fruit - especially in eternal life.

Are we using our time to the Glory of God or are we just throwing it around? When being inviting by the Lord to give our time to Him through our friends, in our faith, along with our family - do we just - well - say we are busy? Busy will always be around us - It has been that way for generations!

There was once a group of people who had been friends at University who decided to get together several years after graduation:

-they were 30 years old and so they thought they would get together for dinner - they agreed to go to this restaurant “The Glowing Amber” - the waiters and waitresses were young and good looking and it had great music.

- when they turned 45 years old they decided to get together again, they agreed to go this restaurant “The Glowing Amber” - they heard it had great food and they could bring their kids.

- when they turned 60 years old they decided to get together they agreed to this restaurant “The Glowing Amber” - they could eat in peace and quiet with out any loud music

- when they turned 75 years old they decided to get together they agreed to meet at this restaurant “The Glowing Amber” - it was physically accessible and had an elevator, not to mention an early bird special.

- when they turned 90 years old they decided to get together they agreed to gather at this restaurant “ The Glowing Amber” - after all they had never eaten there before!

Time changes things, generations more on, and yet some things stay the same. Being busy will always be there - like a Glowing Amber, but the opportunity to serve, to say, to show for the glory of God may not be or might even be forgotten if we are not careful! That moment to read to your child, that occasion to have a coffee with a friend in need, that moment to turn to God and honour Him for all He does in our lives - these will pass as quickly as the years.

Are you using your time to the glory of self or the glory of God?

Are you using your time to build up ego or build up God’s Kingdom?

Are you investing in a sport more than a soul?

Are you serving Career before Child? Boss before family?

Are you putting dream ahead of God’s desire for you?

This week - try not to say I am busy - but respond to where the Lord guides, how the Lord asks, discern each request carefully - don't brush them off. That one invite from a friend, faith community or family member might well be the manner the Lord uses to give great blessing. Give all you have - even the little morsels of time to Him - and let Him establish a feast for you and your household that will last for days and maybe even invest in eternity !

In the Midst of the Storm There is Always Room

Once or twice in our experience of this life here on earth something happens which shapes the course of our lives. Many on the East Coast have experienced such an event. Consider for a moment what has been set in motion from Sandy:

● 13 foot surge of seawater. 3 feet above the 200 year old record and 90 mph winds

● The battery tunnel connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn flooded.

● 74 foot crane in the middle of Manhattan tittering over the city

● 8.2 million in 7 states from the Carolina’s to Ohio without power

● a close call at 2 nuclear plants

● 100 homes destroyed first by flood and then by fire in Queens (historic breezy Point)

● The West Virginia Blizzard as a result of the storm.

● ships and trees, and roads, and homes gone.

● dozens of people lost their lives

That's the big picture and it says nothing of the tens of thousands of people whose lives are changed in significant ways. Try to calculate the human toll emotionally and spiritually and you cannot. Only God can weigh such matters. But we try in feeble ways to understand. Events like Sandy raise fundamental questions.

 Why is there so much chaos?

 Why does nature so overwhelm us and destroy our lives.

 Why do innocent people suffer?

Questions always gets asked, don’t they: Where was God on September 11, 2001? Where was God when 280,000 perished in the Asian Tsunami? Where was God this week? I am struck by how universal these questions are. They are as old as Job and are asked by the wisest people among us. For years mankind has sought the answer to suffering. And we are still searching. These monstrous works beckon the question Who’s in control here? Nature? Man? God?

At the core of events which lead to the Gospel of today were the same queries (Mark 12:28-34). The Disciples of Jesus were seeing so much change in their time and era, so much turmoil, hurt, anger, suppression they too wanted to get down to the core of it all. There were so many questions in fact that the scribes and the pharisees were arguing with one another over the answers. So they come to Jesus - they want to get down to the core of it all - what is the greatest commandment? - what is the core, what is the essence, what is it all about - help us understand in the midst of the storm. Jesus reply - Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul, with all your strength and love your neighbour as yourself.

Here is the mastery of storms - they get us back to the core, the truth! When the storm - call it Sandy or just call it Life at times - turns everything upside down, causes hundred of mile strong drafts, and tsunami type waves - at the end - what gets us thru it - what gets us past it, what lets us keep moving on - well - is our Core Principles, our Central Character, our Concrete Reasons for Being Who we are!

Jesus reminds us, in His response to the scribes and pharisees - that we must remember what we are about - Love of God and Love of Neighbour and that the mission we are on is not only to Live the Gospel - but Give the Gospel - to proclaim and be active in sharing the Good News.

Let me finish with this:

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous "yes." The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

"Now," said the professor as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things--your life of faith, family, your children, your health, your friends--and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car.

The sand is everything else--the small stuff. "If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

"Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Take care of the golf balls first--the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a little bit more."

Let us -even in the storms - get back to the core, the truth!- there is always room for Love of God and Neighbour.

How Can I Know If I Have Faith?

How Can I Know it’s the question we have been asking now for almost a month - and maybe for some - for a longer period of time in their life. You see life has lots of doubts and questions, and yet faith is an essential element to answering so many of them. That is why this Year of Faith announced by our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI is so very important. It is a call to a New Evangelization, it is an invitation to Re Discover the Joy of our Faith. It is a chance to remove the stumbling blocks (Mark 9:, 30-37, 38-48) that prevent us from truly becoming who God is calling us to be, and arriving where He desires us to be, with Him in Heaven. So we started by asking “How Can I know if I can start over if I Blew It?”, then we asked “How can I know if there is a God ?” and last week we asked “How Can I know If I am Thankful?” and this of course leads to where we are at now, continuing to desire to seek, find, knock and have the door of faith opened. But wait a minute, “How Can I know If I Have Faith?”

In the Gospel today (Mark 10:17-30) a young man comes to Jesus and says “what must I do to inherit eternal life”. Isn’t that what we would say too. Think of it, if we had been that young man with an opportunity to meet Jesus on the street, would that not be the eternal question we would ask? As the young man approaches Jesus you can sense in his question that seeking, knocking, searching that we have been talking about. It is around us everywhere.

People have more questions today then ever before. They wonder more, they inquiry more, they desire more. Yet we can’t presume that the content of our faith is accepted in our culture anymore, but what we can know is that people are desiring the Word of God more than ever, and its relevance is as profoundly needed as it has ever been. But in order to communicate it, we have to believe it, understand it and we have to live it authentically. Faith is not a routine.

So what is Faith - and how do I know if I have it?

Several months back I was travelling to New York when in the airport a gentleman who was sitting in the same departure lounge as I, came to me and said “Hey Father”. I looked at him, not recognizing him but believing that he was a Catholic, or at least should be one, I replied back. In a very chummy way he then asked “So where are you going?”, I replied back, “ Well to New York, are you?”. “Yep” was his replied, but somewhat subdued. Then came the moment. “I’m going for my nephew’s First Communion”. But his statement was not one of joy. I replied “Well that’s great”. His retorted “well maybe for you”. He continued, “ I am only going because it is my kid brother’s kid, and plus, my mother called me and said I should be there”. Our conversation continued briefly but what became so clear was that he not only had questions, he also had a lot of misconceptions.

So what is Faith - and how do I know if I have it? Three things if we are going to answer that.

1. We must ensure we are not “Prophets of Misfortune”: In the Gospel of today Jesus challenges the young man to go and sell all he had, and then come and follow Christ. Truly a challenge but certainly a sign of faith. What do we hold on to?

- what possession keeps us from surrendering to the Lord?

- what persons can stand in the way of us embracing Christ?

- what principle have we made for our life, not based in Christ, that is a stumbling block to embracing His will for our life?

- what prophetic wisdom of our own creation are we announcing which conflicts with the true Prophetic Word of Christ?

So often what stops us from living faith - well - is us! We want something our way, we desire to hold on to something for ourselves, we embrace a concept that we have created - about God, about our world, about a person, about the Church - and we say this is the way it is ! Never discussing or discerning with God in prayer if it is our truth or His! So our lives become, as Pope John XXII said on the opening day of the Second Vatican Council, the life of a prophet of misfortune.

So what is Faith - and how do I know if I have it?

2. We must ensure we are Established for Evangelization -"Evangelium" – "euangelisasthai" [Greek: "to preach the Gospel"] (cf. Lk 4:18). Anyone who has worked with me in the past 15 years of my priesthood knows that there are two phrases you can’t say around me “This project is impossible, or we have never done this before”.

In the Gospel of today - Peter came to Jesus somewhat frustrated and said Lord we have left everything and you want more.... well Jesus was calling the Apostles and Disciples even then to a new way - a deeper way - a way of developing an enthusiasm for our faith and inviting others to hear the message of salvation.

The New Evangelization, which actually started with Vatican II, has been a call by Blessed Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI to not only witness to those who have never heard of Jesus, but also to represent Jesus to those who are nominal in their faith. It is a call to be a speaker of God’s word, and to give a reason for the hope within you. (cf. 1 Peter 3:15) Today’s second reading from Book of Hebrew’s is powerful “ the word of God is living and active” (Hebrews 4: 12-13). We must be willing to make time to share what we have, and to re discover the joy of the faith we have. We have to ensure that no one gets lost in the crowd, everyone finds a place, and that there is not only something, but a place for everyone.

The words at the end of Mass “Go the Mass Has Ended” are not instructions giving permission to charge out to the parking lot and be the first in line at Timmy’s, or the stage direction for the choir to begin singing - they are a challenge to now go live what you have heard and been nourished in!

So what is Faith - and how do I know if I have it?

3. We must Set Ourselves Up for Success - Pope Benedict XVI at the conclusion of the First Session of the Synod of Bishops called to begin this New Evangelization and commence the Year of Faith, said to us that there are two keys which we must have to unlock the faith - “confessio” and “ caritas” or translated - Word and Action!

This is why the Catholicism Project we are offering as part of our Tuesday Night Together is so important - and one I hope you participate in. This is why our Lectio Divina as part of Sunday Night Vespers is so vital. Both of these give us a chance to unlock the treasure of our faith and put into action a deeper understanding of Him and His Word and how it applies to our daily life. If you are not participating in these then I ask you this - what are you doing then for the Year of Faith - it can’t be the same old - this year calls us to more! By saying we want more, our faith will be seen.

This year, the Holy Father is asking us to walk through the door of faith. As we deepen our understanding of the content of our faith, we will learn more fully what Jesus did for us on the cross and how he wants us to live. What’s more, as we grow in a “living recognition of the Lord Jesus, present in our lives” (Porta Fidei, 13).

This Year of Faith is about a little bit more...more of the Lord

This Year of Faith, is about answering “How Can I Know?”.

This Year of Faith is about inquiring and giving a little bit more to your life of faith - that which matters.

This Year of Faith is about growing a little bit more

If we are certain, that we are not “Prophets of Misfortune”, ensure we are Established for Evangelization, set Ourselves Up for Success, then unlike the young man in the Gospel we do not walk away sad, but do in fact, in the end, inherit eternal life.

YEAR OF FAITH – October 11, 2012-November 24, 2013

Today begins the Year of Faith, an exciting time in the life of the Church. It is a grace guided opportunity for the New Evangelization. A time in which Our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI has invited us to take seriously, to mark dramatically and to celebrate vigorously. At St Mary of the Visitation Parish we take that invitation to heart. Here is a list of some of the exciting things we are engaging in to help make this Year of Faith a deeply graced filled one:

• Friday, October 12, 2012 - Taste of St Mary’s - a parish potluck to bring together the diversity of our Family of Faith.

• Sunday, October 14, 2012 - Dedication of the Visitation Gardens with monument to the Sanctity of Life.

• Sunday, October 28, 2012 - Launch of Monthly Sunday Night Vespers/Lectio Divina - see parish website 

• Tuesday, October 30, 2012 - Launch of Monthly Tuesday Night Together featuring the Catholicism Series - see parish website - sign ups are underway

• Weekend of December 8/9, 2012 - Special Advent Weekend featuring Basilian Father Thomas Roscia of Salt and Light Television with a special conference for those involved in our Adoration Chapel Ministry which celebrates its 10th Anniversary.

• March 2-5, 2013 - Lenten Mission featuring Father Adam Voisin, Judicial Vicar of the Diocese of Hamilton.

• We will participate in three gatherings (retreats) for young adults, men and women and for married couples and focus on Small Group Ministry in the parish and ensuring no one gets lost in the crowd.

• Engage in a parish wide Pilgrimage to the Cathedral of Christ the King, Hamilton to be held in the Spring 2013 and an additional Summer Pilgrimage to a Shrine to be named.

• Special retreat and spiritual activities for the young people of our parish elementary schools from Grade 1-8 during the Year of Faith.

Certainly a pinnacle event is our Year of Faith Pilgrimage to Fatima, Lourdes, Assisi and Rome from October 14-26, 2012. Some 35 people will be participating and taking with them the prayer intentions of the entire parish family as well.

Let us all pray that the Year of Faith, will be grace filled for St Mary of the Visitation Parish.

How Can I Know If I Am Thankful?

The Year of Faith which begins on October 11th marks the 50th anniversary of the 2nd Vatican Council - a monumental event in the life of the Church. The days following the Council, like some occasions even today, caused the People of God to question events - in the world and in the Church.

This series How Can I Know is about addressing doubts and questions so that we can enter the Year of Faith focussed without stumbling blocks (Mark 9:, 30-37, 38-48). Two weeks ago we asked “How Can I know if I can start over if I Blew It?” Last week we asked “How do you know if there is a God ?”. We continue in our desire to seek, find, knock and have the door of faith opened.

As we mark Thanksgiving - and as our Gospel this weekend (Mark 10:2-16) speaks to us about the richness of life and faith found within the gift of the Sacrament of Marriage and the innocence of childhood, we invite ourselves to ask “How Can I know If I am Thankful?”

Now, Thanksgiving is often marked by family gathering and good food! The thanksgiving meal is a staple of the weekend and so off shopping I went. I have to tell you though that to get to the grocery store at times is a challenge. The entrance to parking lots at times seems to be the exit location of common sense. People drive hap hazardously and seem to enter a zone that makes them unaware of other human beings in their midst. The pursuit of the last mango, potato chip bag or yogurt container on the shelf seems to be as vital as the air we breath. The grocery list becomes marching orders from a commander with dire consequences if unfinished! Or so it seems.

Well this week had one of those occasions, for it seemed to me that I met a lot of very driven personalities that day whose manners were left at the gathering spot of the shopping carts. As I arrived at the cash register, exhausted from the experience of trying to find three things on my grocery list, I took a deep breath. As I waited, I became entertained by a conversation between a little boy and his mother who were ahead of me in the register line. Obvious visitors to the city they spoke of how this grocery store was more ample than the one in their hometown. They listed everything they had seen, and then the little boy said - DID YOU SEE ALL THE TURKEY’S? I thought to myself - you bet I saw all the turkey’s - even got almost trampled by some of them!

Turkey’s are around us in life - they are not just in grocery store freezers

• they are that person who tells lies about you and speaks ill of you.

• they are that family member or friend who needles you because they are jealous of you.

• they are that person who feels entitled and judges you and is hurtful toward you

• they are that stranger who just says the wrong thing or that person who knows the right thing to say just to get at you or that individual who is holding a grudge and has it in for you.

Sometimes those “turkey’s” even gather with us at Thanksgiving and not on the table, but around the table seated with us. We all have moments in our life when we stop and we say Did you See All the Turkey’s! So when Thanksgiving comes around we ask ourselves - How Can I Know If I am Thankful?

I am a big lists fellow. I start my day with a list of things I wish to accomplish and get pretty happy when the day moves along and I can click them off on my list. But the opposite happens too - I find myself a bit disappointed if my list has lots to do still left on it by the end of the day. If our approach to thankfulness is list orientated - well - we are sometimes going to see what’s lost and left. That is why there really is two types of thankfulness

There is Secondary Thanksgiving - or what I call - “The Grocery List” of Thanksgiving. It is when we live life by coming up with a list of what we have: my investment portfolio had done well, my job is fulfilling, my family is healthy, my school work is satisfying, my health is fabulous, my looks are movie star status, my clothes are the latest, my toys are the greatest. So we turn to God and say thanks for this, for the good things we have. But the opposite of course is true - if any of these things are not on the list - thankfulness is not!

But as people of faith we are called to Primary Thanksgiving. This is a deeply found gratitude for God Himself - or what I call “ A Habit of Thanksgiving”. It is a seeded sense that develops within us a call to be a people of gratitude. We are called to get our eyes off of the list, the lot or the little, but to consider His greatness, His Majesty, His Blessing. Its that sense which the author of our First Reading (Genesis 2.7, 15, 18-24) speaks of when reflecting upon the creation of God and its ultimate connection to us.

So, “How Can I know If I am Thankful?”, well I guess by asking yourself if you focus on a list of lot or little or if you focus on a daily attitude each day which see gratefully the very creation which God has given us - little or lot - and rejoices in its very presence, is very nature. Do you see all the Turkey’s or do you appreciate all the blessings? Will your thanksgiving be ruined if one person says the wrong thing or will your thanksgiving be blessed by the very habit of just getting together? Primary Thanksgiving is what people of faith celebrate. Here is what I mean.

If for example, I have a cheque in my hand $1,440 and I have another which I will give, and another that I will give, and choose to do so every single day for the rest of your life. - Padre’s Cash for Life! - would you take it ? There is only one thing - you have to spend it all - totally everyday. None of it can be left over - none of it can be saved for the next day. You have to use it fully, totally anyway you want - except - none can be saved for the next day. One day it will stop - but you don’t know when - but for now you get $1440 daily. Would you take it ?

Most of us would be thankful for that - we’d accept - here is the thing - we already have something of that value its minutes in a day - exactly the same number 1440 and God gave them to us with that same agreement. We have to use them everyday. How we use them demonstrates if we are thankful. Ask yourself how you use them? Is it in a spirit of loss (the turkey’s too them) or a spirit of thankfulness ( God gave them)?

How Can I know If I am Thankful?

• Do you focus too much on the turkey’s or the list?

• Do you use every minute to the best of your ability or let the Turkey’s take them from you?

So this Thanksgiving - focus not on the turkey’s but the banquet, the harvest the blessing. If you do - your whole life will be one where you will know you are thankful!