Thanksgiving at times of deliverance

Thanksgiving and Praise: Psalms 33 and 34

Reflect for a moment on times when you have felt relief and perhaps even victory after a long and difficult struggle. Just the other day I had such an experience. There was a person in my life whom I found it hard to forgive for a great many years. One day recently, during a discussion with friends, a special insight came to me: an awareness of how terribly unhappy that person was and how it was easy to understand why things had turned out the way they did. And behold! It was as if I had been set free from the tyranny of resentment and bitterness. I was able to forgive, and was also able to love that person, and, for the first time in many years, I was able to pray for that person with compassion and even with love. I’d been set free! I hadn’t expected it to happen: it was a gift given to me by the Lord at a time He had chosen. Now the war was over and I was at peace, and my soul became that much lighter.

I turned to Psalm 33, the next one in our series, and found out it was a psalm of joy and praise by a nation which had been set free from warfare. How appropriate. Here are some verses that you can use a little prayers at appropriate times. They all speak of our overriding theme in this series: they speak oh how God cares for us.

They are happy whose God is the Lord,

the people he has chosen as his own.  (v 12)

The Lord looks on those who revere him,

on those who hope in his love,

to rescue their souls from death,

to keep them alive in famine.  (v 18-19)

May your love be upon us, O Lord,

as we place all our hope in you.  (v22)

And now we turn to Psalm 34, which is also a psalm of praise:

I sought the Lord and he answered me;

from all my terrors he set me free.  (v 5)

Taste and see that the Lord is good.

He is happy who seeks refuge in him. (v 9)

The Lord is close to the broken-hearted;

those whose spirit is crushed he will save. (v 19)

The Lord ransoms the souls of his servants.

Those who hide in him shall not be condemned. (v 23)

·         This verse in particular sends me to the cross, to the locus of our ransoming. We can draw faith from the reassurance given to us that we will not be damned. Think also of the Good Thief and the salvation we won by his simple statement of faith at the very last hour.

God bless you.

The peace that can't be described is meant for you.

From the second reading for the Third Sunday of Advent (Year C): Philippians 4:4-7

. . . Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

So what is this peace? Have you experienced it? Can you describe it?

Of course you can’t. This peace which is given to us who believe defies description because we are limited in our language, especially when it comes to spiritual things. We don’t have the words or concepts to speak about it rationally, or logically, or in merely earthbound terms.

What we do know is that the peace itself is conditional. There are things we have to do that end up calling this peace down upon us and within us. The passage from Philippians lists the requirements for us:

·         Rejoice in the Lord always (even during those difficult times).

·         Be extraordinarily kind.

·         Be free from anxiety because you know the Lord is near (=with you in all things). Sit calmly, breathe deeply, feel the anxiety and then offer it up to God who will touch it and heal it. Focus on the body sensations you have when you are anxious; imagine the Lord touching those sensations, and as you breathe deeply, experience them growing fainter and lighter until they all but disappear. Don’t think about the problem or the issues: focus you attention on the feelings and the sensation.

·         Ask for things by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving. God already knows what you need, but it is important for you voice your requests in your own words.

If you do all these things, then you will know that peace which surpasses all understanding. Give thanks for it. Don’t try to explain it to anyone else, or even to yourself: simply rest in it.

When you emerge from this meditative process, you will be better able to face the things you have to face in your life, and you may perhaps even be given insight about what you are to say or do.

I can’t say any more about it. I don’t have the language to do that. But I do what I can do in my own imperfect way. I pray that the suggestions I make will inspire you to make yourself ready to receive that peace. Just remember: on this third Sunday of Advent, the color is pink, not purple, for this a day given to us that we may rejoice.

Blessed Advent to you.

A spiritual Thanksgiving

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could prepare for Thanksgiving in a way that helps make it a deeply spiritual experience? What could you do to make that happen? I offer a few suggestions.

·         First of all, the day before Thanksgiving is an important time to give thought and prayer to these matters. Most of us will be busy, preoccupied or distracted by all the preparations on Thursday, by the visiting and celebrating that takes place in household. In a sense, on Thanksgiving we are all “Marthas.” Wednesday offers us to be more like “Mary” and to take the time and quiet to reflect and to listen to the promptings of the Spirit Who will lead us into a deep sense of gratitude if we stay open and attentive.

·         By all means, if at all possible, go to Mass either Wednesday evening or Thursday morning. Never forget that the Mass itself is the ultimate act of thanksgiving to God. “The Eucharist is a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the Father, a blessing by which the Church expresses her gratitude to God for all his benefits, for all that he has accomplished through creation, redemption, and sanctification. Eucharist means first of all ‘thanksgiving.’” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, # 1360)

·         Find a few moments of solitude and a quiet place; take a journal or notebook or simply a piece of paper and make a gratitude list of all the things you are thankful for. Don’t overthink this; in fact, if at all possible, let it be automatic writing. If something comes to mind, jot it down. Continue until you have nothing more to write. The benefits of making such a list are not only spiritual; this activity also can have a powerful effect on the emotions and on our mental state. (And, by the way, you don’t have to wait until Thanksgiving to do such a thing. Any time will do.)

Blessed Thankgsiving to all of you. I thank God for giving me the inspiration to write these reflections, and I thank him for you who read them, and for those of you who give me feedback every now and then.

The next Reflection will be on Friday, November 27.