Dear Friends of Carmel Mission,
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your loved ones!
What a wonderful holiday it is to celebrate our gratitude to God for all the blessings that He gives us. It is a secular holiday, of course, but for us Catholics, it is a resounding echo of that Thanksgiving, that Eucharist, that is at the core of our faith. Thus, the secular and the sacred are joined together in a chorus of gratitude. It is a time for family and friends to come together and enjoy the fruits of the harvest. How right and fitting that is. All good things come from God, and our greatest prayer is one of Thanksgiving to the One who continues to bless us in so many ways.
But let us not forget, as we gather around the table for our Thanksgiving meal, that there are many who have no table, no roof, no home. There are many who still search for lost loved ones, who were swept up in scorching flames, and never had the chance to say goodbye.
For many of us, they are the neighbors we never knew, but for some of us, they are relatives or friends, people who perhaps had joined us for a previous Thanksgiving meal.
Let us remember those who lost their lives and those who lost their loved ones, so suddenly, so tragically. May our prayer be that our loving God will welcome them and gather them around His banquet table this Thanksgiving, in that other Paradise, where they are safe forever.
Fr. Paul
Pastor at Carmel Mission