Thanksgiving

Painting: Gang nach Emmaus by Robert Zünd (1877), downloaded from Wikimedia

It's a good day when one recognizes God present in his life. As I was walking to Mass, I was thinking of the problem of how I might teach the faith to those who might not be receptive to the teachings of the Catholic Church. Ultimately (I was thinking) it comes down to the recognition by the person—who might receive the gift of faith—that he or she is in need of Christ. We're in a time of widespread complacency, when many are taught to accept their vices and flaws (of course, there are exceptions). And so many us aren't concerned about the need to repent.

After walking through the church doors, I was pleasantly surprised by the first reading at Mass, Ezra's prayer to God (Ezra 9:5-9):

At the time of the evening sacrifice, I, Ezra, rose in my wretchedness,
and with cloak and mantle torn I fell on my knees,
stretching out my hands to the LORD, my God.

I said: “My God, I am too ashamed and confounded to raise my face to you,
O my God, for our wicked deeds are heaped up above our heads
and our guilt reaches up to heaven.
From the time of our fathers even to this day
great has been our guilt,
and for our wicked deeds we have been delivered up,
we and our kings and our priests,
to the will of the kings of foreign lands,
to the sword, to captivity, to pillage, and to disgrace,
as is the case today.

“And now, but a short time ago, mercy came to us from the LORD, our God,
who left us a remnant and gave us a stake in his holy place;
thus our God has brightened our eyes
and given us relief in our servitude.
For slaves we are, but in our servitude our God has not abandoned us;
rather, he has turned the good will
of the kings of Persia toward us.
Thus he has given us new life
to raise again the house of our God and restore its ruins,
and has granted us a fence in Judah and Jerusalem.”

Completing the triple, the homily on humility was based on Ezra's prayer.

And God pried open my eyes that I might glimpse Him. It seemed to me that humility is the recognition of the truth about one's relationship with God. Of course, God loves all of us. This is a constant. But we do not always love God as we ought. Humility is the recognition of our dependence on God, and of our smallness before Infinite Love. "Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed." We cannot make demands upon God. We cannot march up to God and demand Heaven as if it were a matter of justice.  Rather it is a matter of Mercy, a gift freely given, and hence, it is a matter of thanksgiving on our part. And so humility is a gateway to thanksgiving and joy at being united to Jesus, where we've a foretaste of that perfect divine union in the Eucharist.