Thanksgiving Day and the Mass

On our national holiday of Thanksgiving, families gather together around dining room tables to partake in a delicious meal of traditional fare. The origins of this day speak of the Pilgrims and Native Americans, of the founding of a colony to have the freedom to worship God, and to thank Him for the bounty He provided.
         
It is gratifying to know that Catholics often come to Mass on Thanksgiving. They come because they have a sense that it is fitting to offer thanks to God. However, the business of offering thanks has a much more profound meaning than a simple “thank you”, or even a festive family meal.
         
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, or the Mass, is an act of thanksgiving. “It is called: Eucharist, because it is an action of thanksgiving to God. The Greek words eucharistein and eulogein recall the Jewish blessings that proclaim—especially during a meal—God’s works: creation, redemption, and sanctification” (CCC #1328). As a matter of fact, as we have seen in this citation from the Catechism, the word “Eucharist” means “thanksgiving.”
         
We must note that the celebration of the Holy Eucharist is a profound act of adoration and love. It is an act of thanksgiving, and not one that has simply human origins. Rather, it is an act of God Himself to offer thanks. It is a divine act of the Son offering thanks to the Father in the power of the Holy Spirit.
         
Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) in his book Feast of Faith maintains that the Eucharist is the fulfillment of a type of sacrifice offered to God in the Old Testament. This sacrifice was called “the todah sacrifice.” Todah in Hebrew means “Thanksgiving.” The todah sacrifice was one offered in thanksgiving to God when a person was saved from death, from fatal illness or from others who would seek his life. It was celebrated within the context of a meal and involved the use of unleavened bread. Does this sound familiar?
         
Our Lord’s sacrifice on the Cross, which was foretold and anticipated in the Last Supper, perfectly fulfilled all of the sacrifices of the Old Testament, especially the todah sacrifice.  The Mass which perpetuates this once-for-all offered Sacrifice of Jesus was instituted at a meal that used unleavened bread in anticipation of what He would do the next day on Good Friday.
         
When we come to Mass, we do not come to a lifeless remembering of what Jesus did two thousand years ago. At Mass we come to the making present of the ultimate todah sacrifice—that is, the sacrifice that Jesus offered on the Cross. We come to the living and dynamic mystery of Jesus’ dying and rising again. We are united with and enter into this amazing sacrifice.
         
The sacrifice of Jesus made present at Mass commemorates the liberation of all people from the death of sin and the bringing back of them to the life of grace, that is, to God’s own life. What is amazing about this todah sacrifice is that God Himself who suffered death to save us from death, and rose from the dead to bring us new life, is substantially present in the Holy Eucharist.
         
We see, then, that while it is a great joy to celebrate Thanksgiving Day and to be grateful for so many things in our daily life, it is awesome to have access every day to the profound mystery of the sacrifice of Jesus as the ultimate act of thanksgiving. At Mass we have the opportunity to be united with the sacrifice of thanksgiving offered by Jesus to the Father. By this sacrifice celebrated as the Paschal Banquet of the Lamb, we are liberated from sin and saved from eternal death.  It surpasses any other way of saying thank you. How blessed we are in that deed of mercy, that act of love, that sacrifice of thanksgiving!

Most Reverend William J. Waltersheid
Auxiliary Bishop of Pittsburgh