Families and friends will gather this Thanksgiving Day. They will come together in warm homes of plenty with the dinner table laden with a feast. Now Jesus enjoyed a good meal. Scripture indicates that he would begrudge no one a fine Thanksgiving dinner. But in the giving of thanks this day, we must also remember.
Remember the poor of the world who will have nothing to eat today and those who will die today of starvation with no home or bed. Remember Saint Francis, Saint Clare, and all the others who gave up all to serve our Lord Jesus Christ and to care for the poor.
And remember Jesus who relinquished heaven and became poor to be among us.
In this remembering, we give thanks for the capacity to love and for the opportunity to act out of this love. In this remembering, there is an action to be taken - on behalf of and with the poor.
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:3.
Article 11
Trusting in the Father, Christ chose for himself and his mother a poor and humble life, even though he valued created things attentively and lovingly. Let the Secular Franciscans seek a proper spirit of detachment from temporal goods by simplifying their own material needs. Let them be mindful that according to the gospel they are stewards of the goods received for the benefit of God's children.
Thus, in the spirit of the Beatitudes, and as pilgrims and strangers on their way to the home of the Father, they should strive to purify their hearts from every tendency and yearning for possession and power.
1 comment:
Wouldnt it be wonderful if we all treated one another as well as we do on Thanksgiving??
Post a Comment