Giving Thanks {Giver + Receiver}

Someone recently quipped that Thanksgiving was 'all about abundance' and cited the number of pies Bridget bakes for the feast as exhibit A for the abundance argument.  Truth be told, I bake quite a few pies for this celebration.  I love pie.  My mom always baked pies for my birthday cakes, but I digress.

The heart of our celebration today centers on 'giving' thanks...to Someone.  Getting stuffed on seasonal delicacies and saturated with televised sporting entertainment may be the hallmarks of the day in many American families, but the true meaning still remains: We give Thanks to God for His abundant blessings.

Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the Most High. Call upon me in the day of trouble. I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me . . . Mark then you who forget God, lest I rend and there be none to deliver. He who brings thanksgiving as his sacrifice honors me. To him who orders his way aright, I will show the salvation of God. ~Psalm 50:14-15, 22-23

What better place to thank God than in His holy house, the Church?  The word Eucharist means thanksgiving, and by God's grace our family will begin this secular holiday within God's house, praising Him and receiving Him in holy Eucharist.  The rest of the holiday is, as they say, gravy.

The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating or drinking, but of justice, peace, and the joy that is given by the Holy Spirit. Whoever serves Christ in this way pleases God and wins the esteem of men. Let us, then, make it our aim to work for peace and to strengthen one another. ~Romans 14:17-19

  
I give my humble thanks to God:

• For the gift of life and faith given to me by my parents in cooperation with our Lord who gave His life to save me from my sins
• For the gift of eternal life offered through my baptism and renewed through frequent sacraments, especially Holy Communion and confession; for the Holy Catholic Church
• For the gift of our marriage, and my husband's infant baptism on the same day as my own
• For our children Zachary, Joseph, and Peter; for our other pregnancies and miscarriages
• For our parents, grandparents, siblings, families, Godparents, priests, and the Church Triumphant ~ the saints in heaven
• For our Godchildren, foster children, spiritual children and their families
• For our friends, prayer warriors, benefactors, students, teachers, readers, employees, contacts, Scouting and home schooling families, 
• For the Fraternal Society of Saint Peter (FSSP), Benedictines, Carmelites, Passionists, Dominicans, for our Seattle Archdiocese, and our parishes
• For our health, home and daily sustenance
• For our freedom and for those who defend true freedom and the right to life for every human being
• For Truth

I offer thanksgiving to Almighty God for the many and varied resources so readily available to build up my faith and deepen my knowledge of the Truth:

The Holy Bible
Divine Intimacy
Divine Office 
Church Militant TV
Father Z's blog 
Audio Sancto Sermon Series
The Holy See
Spiritual Food for Thought
Father Broom's podcasts
Father Jim Northrop's podcasts
Father Lappe's homilies
Father Hollowell's blog
Father MacRae's blog
The Radical Life
Divine Mercy: Saint Faustina's Diary

And lest I forget, there is one last thing to be especially thankful for on this day:
Pies!

Eagle Scout

Crossing over to Eagle 2012

Tonight Zachary passed his board of review for Eagle Rank.  Only a few more signatures at the national BSA level, and he'll be awarded his badge.  Flag day (June 14) will always be a special day for our first Eagle Scout, the day his Eagle Scout application was officially completed.  Nicely done, son.

 

2003 Cub Scout family camp at Baker Lake, WA

  Wolf to Bear cross-over 2002

Zachary celebrates crossing over from Tiger to Wolf 

2001

A Thanksgiving to Remember {2011}

 7 things to remember about Thanksgiving 2011:

--- 1 ---

On our way to the epic Thanksgiving feast, we stopped off to meet 4-day old Samuel John, a treasure to behold.  His mom, Aileen and I have been friends since second grade, and his family is our family!  They welcomed us to meet their precious newborn and treated us to brownies and soda and even let us take turns holding Sam.  When I held up my camera for a quick snap-shot (or 10), Sam gave the slightest grin, so dear.  If only we lived closer to little Sam, I could fill an entire memory card!  God willing, we shall see him again for his baptism in a few weeks.

--- 2 ---

Our first stop at about the halfway mark between Bellingham and Tacoma was for Mass at North American Martyrs in Seattle.  This exceptional parish celebrates Mass in the extraordinary form of the Roman rite, or the Tridentine Latin Mass.  Their pastor, Father Saguto, a holy priest, is from the The Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP) .  Tony required a bit of extra coaching and quieting during Mass, and the duty fell upon Tim, who was seated closest to him.  The twins spent the holiday with their momma; and although we missed them, their absence made attending this solemn, quiet Mass possible, and we held them close in our prayers.

--- 3 ---

My little brother, known for a serious life-long cat aversion (and allergy), now owns a cat.  Who could have seen this coming?  Being a cat person myself, I could not resist this fantastically photographic feline, perched on the kids' table welcoming guests.

--- 4 ---

For my little sister, Molly's family, Thanksgiving was also known as 'the day before O'Dea would beat Camas and advance to the state finals in AAA high school football'.  The nutritional boost from the big meal must have helped Niko and Mike and their teammates put Camas behind them on their march to the state title.  In preparation for their big game, the boys watched a few Thanksgiving football games on TV and kept their pie slice consumption down in the single digits.

--- 5 ---

Exactly ten years prior, Peter John inaugurated his new turkey deep fryer.  The thermometer was 100 degrees off, and that poor turkey emerged overly well done (charred).  Not known to suffer a loss lightly, Peter John insisted on deep frying again this year, rain or shine.  It poured!  Donning a full poncho and an umbrella, and double-wielding thermometers, Peter's tenacity paid off and the golden bird was a delight to behold and even better to eat.  A second (back-up) turkey, prepared by my mom in her oven only a few blocks from Peter's house, provided ample meat for all to take as left-overs.  Molly's mega mashed potatoes and Aunt Sue's stuffing balls rounded out an extravagant meal.  

--- 6 ---

Some people are born to entertain, and clearly Michelle and Peter John fit this category.  From the seasonal decorations to endless appetizers and table seating for all, their guests were given the royal  treatment.  The young cousins spent hours playing games like hide and seek, Nerf wars and 'force your way up to the top of the stairs', arriving at the dinner table sweaty and hungry.

--- 7 --- 

Thanksgiving officially behind us, yet our celebrating kept up for another 24 hours as Tim's brother's family was in town for the holiday.  Uncle Craig and Aunt Bethany (both veterinarians) brought vaccinations for our dogs and made a house call to administer the meds on Friday.  Afterward, a few carloads of us headed to visit Tim at work at our pawn shop.  Sawyer was in awe with the assorted motorcycle helmets on display.  Tim helped Sawyer try on each helmet in succession, and later helped Uncle Craig find a bike for Aunt Beth's Christmas present.  Another sumptuous turkey dinner at Grandma Billie and Grandpa Cliffs followed, with plenty of pie for everyone and then some!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Pie for 30 {Thanksgiving Preparations}

Peter, Joseph and Judah peel 24 apples on the back deck.

A truly awesome element of this year's Thanksgiving preparation is how willingly my sons and their friends jumped in to assist.  Granted, the workers who live with me will soon have the great enjoyment of actually eating these pies, but the others volunteered just as readily (if not more so) without any promise of tasting the rewards of their labor.  These are top-notch friends, worthy Boy Scouts, faithful Christians, and the kind of people for whom we are truly grateful as we celebrate Thanksgiving this year.

Our failed attempt to contain the mess!

 Enoch prepares the peeled apples.

Transporting 10+ pies, 4 pounds of fresh cranberry sauce, 1 table, and 7 people 500 miles round trip in one day for a dinner party sounds insane!  But this is no ordinary dinner, this is Thanksgiving dinner; our extreme measures will be well worth the effort.  One of the greatest perks this year will be meeting Aileen and Rob's brand new baby boy, Samuel John, on his third day of life outside the womb!

 Prior to par-baking the apple pie filling, Peter tosses the mixture.

Peter doses the pumpkin pie seasoning with cinnamon.

The biggest fiasco in our pie baking marathon nearly claimed two pumpkin pies.  I hastily dumped a double batch of pumpkin pie mix into the waiting crusts before realizing that the key ingredients (sugar and spices pre-mixed by Peter on Monday) were missing.  I attempted to pour the pumpkin goo back into the mixing bowl, but the pie crust slipped in as well.   Messy, but not disastrous.  The second calamity occurred when two of the three apple pies oozed over while baking, the burning syrup setting off a set of screeching smoke alarms.  The delicious smell of apple pies was instantly replaced with the raspy odor of burned sugar, and the efforts to air out the place helped lower the interior temperature by a few degrees.  Brrr!

Zachary (oh so willingly) helps measure the pecan pie ingredients.

Zachary's main contribution to the cooking effort included shopping for a few of the last minute ingredients and driving the morning shuttle so I could stay home and bake uninterrupted.  He willingly measured the pecan pie sugar and syrups and although he snarled for the photo (above), he cooperated willingly.  Tim gave the boys a pep talk encouraging them to do whatever I asked of them in order to make the pie baking fruitful.  Those are words I love to hear, "Do whatever Mom tells you!"

Extreme Gratitude {Thanksgiving}

Thank God!  

Give him the praise and the glory.  

Before all the living, 

acknowledge the many good things he has done for you, 

by blessing and extolling his name in song.  

Before all men, honor and proclaim God's deeds, 

and do not be slack in praising him.

Tobit 12:6

Our holy place to worship God on Thanksgiving and every day

Today's servers (including Peter) with Father Qui Thac and our acolyte, Zachary, preparing for Mass in the sacristy.

After worship, play

and play!

then feast!

Do not let a day slip by without considering God's favors; 

praise and exalt his generosity, particularly in contrast with yours... 

Faithfully remember the gifts bestowed by nature 

as well as those you enjoy by chance and grace 

and by the promised glory that, 

unless you happen to lose it through your own fault, 

is as certain as the rest. 

Think intently about the special and general graces from the Lord 

and admit truthfully that you received them from his hand. 

Preserve them assiduously in the greatest possible purity and love them dearly, 

but even more, love him who so blessed you.  

Withdraw and guard against offending grace and the Lord of grace...

~Father Fracisco de Osuna, O.F.M. +1540

Thanksgiving Review

Things to remember about Thanksgiving 2009:

The boys' help with...
pumpkins
apples
potatoes
bathrooms
tables
dishes
beans
crusts
shopping
hauling
games
Tim's help with...
providing
turkey carving
sanity checks
entertaining

and...
Great company
Amazing liturgy (Mass)
Connecting with far-away family over the phone

Things to forget about Thanksgiving 2009:
fresh green beans (which I forgot to cook until the whole dinner was nearly table-ready...)
left-over green beans (which were in a beautiful Italian ~wedding present~~ serving bowl on the stove after dinner when I accidentally turned on the wrong burner to heat the kettle for tea... and cracked the bowl!)



Quote to ponder before getting too busy with other holiday preparations:
The rush and pressure of modern life are a form, perhaps the most common form of its innate violence.
To allow oneself to be carried away by the multitude of conflicting concerns, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone with everything is to succumb to violence, more than it is cooperation with violence. The frenzy of the activist neutralizes her or his work forpeace. It destroys her or his inner capacity
for peace. It destroys the fruitfulness of work because it kills the root of inner wisdom which makes work fruitful.
--Thomas Merton
Thomas Merton (1915-1968) was a writer and Trappist monk at Our Lady of Gethsemani Abbey in Kentucky.