Let us give Thanks and Praises to GOD!

Happy Blessed Thanksgiving to All!

On this day when we especially express our gratitude for all that we have in this life, let us first, and foremost, give thanks and praises to God, from whom every blessing proceeds!

"Enter His gates with thanksgiving

and His courts with praise; give thanks

to Him and praise His name."

- Psalm 100:4

So this blogger went to a special Thanksgiving Mass this morning.  After I exited my car and was crossing the parking lot to head into church, I glanced up at the sky and had another one of those remarkable and unexpected episodes of "spiritual serendipity" - there, above the parish's Day Chapel, was a bright "cloud‐figure" resembling a woman, all in white with a blue sash around her waist like Our Lady of Lourdes!

I may have blocked traffic for bit while contemplating the holy image and hastily taking out my cellphone to snap a couple of photos (sorry to those I may have inconvenienced), but I couldn't help it - the sight was beautiful and amazing ... but the resulting photos don't do justice to what I saw; the blue sash, too, didn't translate into the pics.  At least the luminous silhouette of the Virgin Mary is evident, as seen below:

Given the occasion, I discerned

and decided to interpret this image of

Mary as "Our Lady of Gratitude"

I went through the Mass very moved, excited, and affirmed that we have a God and a Heavenly Mother who are so very, very close to us ... and generous in dispensing graces.

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; 

His love endures forever."

‐ Psalm 136:1

In his homily, exhorting us to be grateful to our Lord, one phrase that my pastor spoke really impressed me: "The more gratitude you have, the more miracles you'll experience."  As soon as I heard it, I knew he was right.  My priest went on to recommend that we try writing a list of 10 personal blessings just so we can better realize God's goodness in our lives - what excellent advice!

"And now we thank you, our God,

and praise Your glorious name."

- 1 Chronicles 29:13

I left that church more grateful than when I first walked in - grateful for the inspiring homily ... grateful for Jesus united to me through the Eucharist ... and, of course, grateful to our Blessed Mother, who I personally believe descended this morning in order to participate and encourage us in our thankgiving to God.  Why?  I don't know ... but who else could be a better role-model of Thanksgiving and Praise than Our Lady?  Her own words from Sacred Scriptures eloquently bear witness to the immensity of her gratitude and joy over what God was doing in her life:

"My soul doth magnify the Lord,

and my spirit hath rejoiced in God

my Saviour!"

‐ The Magnificat (Canticle of Mary),

Luke 1:46-47

So, taking a cue from the Holy Virgin, let us joyfully give thanks to God, as well - "magnifying" Him before the world - not just today, but every day!