Giving Thanks for Life's Blessings
Not so many years ago, Eva Holt, an elderly woman, received Holy Communion regularly in her home from the parish priests and ministers of the sick. A life-long Catholic then in her nineties, she had found inspiration in the Eucharist for nearly a century. Since she was no longer able to attend Mass at her beloved St. Luke the Evangelist Church in Westborough, the people of the parish came to her.
Each time she received communion, hearing the ancient yet familiar words, “The Body of Christ,” she’d respond, “Amen.” Then she’d quickly and robustly add, “I love you, Jesus!” Her sincerity was profound, her faith vibrant.
“I love you, Jesus!” Eva, like innumerable believers, testified to her life’s purpose and gave voice to the Lord’s first commandment, “You shall love the Lord your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your whole strength.” (Mark 12:30)
“I love you, Jesus!” I love you for coming into my life. I love you for the gift of faith. I love you for calling me to baptism. I love you for the family that you have given to me, mother, father, sisters, brothers, spouse, children, and grandchildren. I love you for good friends. I love you for caring for me, so obvious in the air that I breathe, the sun which warms my face, the food that I eat, the land in which I live, the job through which I provide for others, the health that I have known, the clothing that I wear, and for the earth itself, a garden in which I play, awaiting your greatest gift, life forever.
How often we’ve made words like these - of prayer and praise and thanks - our own!
Being a Christian means being aware of the fact that God has given us all that we have, and developing thankfulness and generosity. God’s grace — God’s free, undeserved and unconditional love for us - invites a life of thanks.
We, truly, have so much. And, for so much, for all our blessings, we know that the only true Christian response is to give back, to make our gift in kind, to return to God that love which began with Him...by loving and helping others.
A blind woman from Baltimore experienced a gift of love from her son. At his birth, through God’s providence and a mother’s love, he received a great gift: perfect sight. The young man, however, would be called home - to eternity - in his teens. Before he died he bequeathed his eyes back to his mother so that she, for the very first time, could see. A local priest recounted this blessed exchange in poetry.
Return in Kind
Blind from birth
she gave him birth
but never saw his face
until, at his early death,
he made a gift in kind
that let her look
on a sightless son
with eyes she gave to him,
he gave to her.
Every person enjoys countless individual blessings in life. The desire to be thankful and give back - springing from a life graced by God - is true of each of us. If we’re truly honest with ourselves, we humbly acknowledge that we’ve received everything good from God. Everything we truly need comes from God. A few moments of silent reflection bears this out. And, when we think about ourselves joined together in community, the list of blessings is infinite. It is also true that when we give, we receive even more.
Our giving to others is an imitation of God’s love for us. Human life can be, and should be, a ‘return in kind.’ The Lord himself teaches us this in the second of the two great commandments, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” We who have known the love of God rightfully share our love with others. And, we’re asked to show that love in practical ways each day.
Receiving and giving are the roots of Christian charity. We’re asked to love God and neighbor. These two loves cannot be separated. We know they’re related. Our love of God, inspired by so many God-given graces, leads us to love and give to others, especially to those who need us the most. As individual Christians, who joyfully recall God’s goodness, we yearn to help others in charitable ways. When we gather together, as a Christian community, to do the same, we become partners in charity.
In this spirit of joyfully receiving and giving, we invite you to make a generous pledge to the Annual Partners in Charity Appeal. As you make a pledge, you become a partner in charity, and share in the ongoing ministry of the Church.
The Annual Partners in Charity Appeal supports 29 diocesan programs devoted to charity, education and ministry, which provide a better life for the people of the diocese. Without them we could not serve people as we do. With your gift, and those of the thousands who will join you, anything is possible.