Thanksgiving

“In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

1 Thessalonians 5:18

Thanksgiving has officially been an annual tradition since 1863, when during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of thanksgiving to be celebrated on the last Thursday of November.

The “First Thanksgiving” was celebrated by the Pilgrims, together with their indiginous neighbors. This feast lasted three days, and provided enough food for thirteen Pilgrims and their ninety Native American hosts. The Wampanoags, the local indigenous peoples, provided for the starving and nearly freezing to death Pilgrims, who, in turn, gave thanks to God for having delivered them from certain death by the kindness of their new friends.

The word Thanksgiving has its roots in the Greek word, εὐχαριστία (eucharistia), where the Church gets the word Eucharist. For Orthodox Christians the ultimate giving of thanks to God comes when we offer the Eucharistic sacrifice, entering into the Heavenly Banquet, participating in the eternal Mystical Supper that is ongoing in the heavenly realm.

During the celebration of the Divine Liturgy we offer a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving to the Lord for His mercy and loving kindness. It has become common practice in some areas for parishes and monasteries to celebrate the Divine Liturgy on the morning of Thanksgiving, having become a local American Orthodox custom to remember, with thanks, all that the Lord has given to His people.

During these times of the Covid-19 pandemic, many among us will be eating Thanksgiving dinner separated from friends and family. Many people are not feeling particularly thankful. However, this gift of life was not bestowed upon us for financial security, good health, or even happiness. This life has been given to us as a time of purification, a period of preparation for the eternal life that God has promised us as our inheritance. Even when we struggle in hard times, or with health issues, we can see that all is allowed for our salvation.

The Heavenly Banquet, that eternal celebration taking place before the Throne of God is ours, here and now, whenever we participate in the celebration of the Divine Liturgy. This Eucharistic celebration (Thanksgiving) wherein Christ offers His Body and Blood for our spiritual and physical healing, is that moment in time when we are able to experience, and participate in, the Banquet that awaits us. The hope of eternal life is worthy of our struggle in this life, as we prepare for our life worshiping before the Holy Trinity. We have much to be thankful for.

With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon

Photo: I invite all of you to click on this photo to enlarge it. I took this photo to show a small portion of the top of our fireplace mantel in the library.

Thursday November 26, 2020 / November 13, 2020
25th Week after Pentecost. Tone seven.
Eve of the Nativity Fast.
American Thanksgiving Day
St. John Chrysostom, archbishop of Constantinople (407).
Martyrs Antoninus, Nicephorus, and Germanus of Caesarea in Palestine (308).
Martyr Manetha of Caesarea in Palestine (308).
New Martyr Damascene of Mt. Athos (1681).
St. Bricius, bishop of Tours (444) and St. Quintianus, bishop of Clermont (525) (Gaul).
St. Euphrasius, bishop of Clermont (515) (Gaul).
St. Leonien of Vienne (518) (Gaul).

The Scripture Readings

John 10:1-9

Jesus the True Shepherd

10 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.5 Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6 Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.

Jesus the Good Shepherd

7 Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.8 All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.

Hebrews 7:26-8:2

26 For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; 27 who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. 28 For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever.

The New Priestly Service

8 Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, 2 a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man.

John 10:9-16

9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. 12 But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. 13 The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. 15 As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. 16 And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice;and there will be one flock and one shepherd.