Gratitude
Read Time: 6.5 minutes
“You must all think of what is best for each other and for the community. Be happy at all times; pray constantly and for all things give thanks to God because this is what God expects you to do in Jesus Christ” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
This is a reminder of the reason we celebrate Thanksgiving. We should always give thanks. We should always show gratitude.
Gratitude is defined as the feeling of appreciation or thankfulness in response to receiving a kindness or gift. It involves recognizing the goodness in our lives and acknowledging that the source of that goodness often comes from outside of ourselves.
As we approach Thanksgiving, a time of gratitude, I would like to recognize the goodness of all those in our St. Joseph’s community who helped in any way during our recent Church renovations. To begin with, let us all recognize the goodness of Fr. Ed and our parish team, who organized and coordinated all the changes needed to move a large congregation from a large Church to a much smaller space. This involved, among other things, celebrating six weekend Masses instead of the usual three.
When the announcement was first made regarding Church renovation and the move to Tranquille Hall, clattering chairs and chaos came to mind, but when the first Mass was celebrated in the Hall, what a surprise! There were no chairs, just the regular church pews. To whomever came up with that plan and the hard physical labour to execute the plan, we owe a huge debt of gratitude and we recognize your goodness. The second surprise was the direction the pews were placed in. They were placed so that we, the congregation, were facing the large window. What a backdrop! During Mass we could see the trees gently moving in the breeze. Sometimes a couple of magpies could be seen flying around. It was like having our own stained glass window brought to life. The altar was placed higher than the congregation with steps and railings which made it easier for us to see and hear the celebrant.
Everything we needed was there: holy water at the door, crucifix above the altar, a smiling greeter at the door. Since we had six masses, somehow, we were given the gifts of six choirs, six sets of readers, six sets of offertory bearers, six sets of sacristans, six sets of ushers, six sets of altar servers, six sets of Holy Communion distributers. We certainly did not have six priests, but somehow Fr. Ed, Fr. Joseph, our visiting priests and our deacons gave us the gifts of six weekend Masses as well as daily Masses. Some members of these groups generously attended more than once at weekends to ensure that Mass was available for us all!
The six-weekend Masses gave us more choice regarding which one to attend. We were encouraged to attend at different times. This gave us another reason to be grateful. During “Normal”
times most of us attend a specific Mass every weekend. Being people of habit, we usually sit in the same spot, surrounded by the same people. The renovation moves changed that and gave us another reason to be grateful. Attending different Masses in a different space, we moved around because we didn’t have our “Regular spot” and we were surrounded by different people, some of whom we had never met before. We got to know new people! (Fr Remi would have loved this!)
In spite of all the extra work, there were still many parishioners, working in the background, doing regular tasks that needed to be done, feeding the hungry, visiting the sick, tending to the parish vegetable garden at the back of the church, tending to the beautiful flowers at the front of the church, providing cookies and coffee to welcome priests, or to say goodbye to priests and all the other gifts of kindness that quiet people give to our Church community every day, regardless of renovations.
At last, the day came when we could move back into the big Church.
Again, we all benefited from the goodness of others. All those amazing behind the scenes volunteers who hauled furniture around transformed Tranquille Hall from a Church back to a Parish Hall.
What a pleasure it was to come back into our big Church with a brand-new carpet and a lovely wide aisle! Now, after a busy summer, our Church community has received the best gift of all. In addition to Fr. Ed, we welcome two new priests, our pastor, Fr. Bernard and newly ordained, Fr. Thomas. We thank God for these gifts to our Church community.
So, on this Thanksgiving Weekend, let us be full of gratitude for all that has happened in our Parish community over the summer and let us recognize the goodness in our lives and acknowledge that the goodness in our lives often comes from others, as we saw during renovations, and we continue to see, because of their kindness and generosity.