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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20241128
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DTSTAMP:20260525T195932
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SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Thanksgiving
DESCRIPTION:THE FULLNESS \nOF THANKSGIVING \nBy Xavier Leon-Dufour5 \n◊◊◊ \nThe first reality of biblical history is the gift of God\, gratuitous\, \nsuperabundant\, without return. The encounter with God does not put human \nbeings simply in the presence of the absolute; it completes them and transforms \ntheir lives. \nThanksgiving appears as the response to this progressive and continual \ngrace which one day should blossom in Christ. At the same time there is an \nintense awareness of the gifts of God\, a spirit of soul permeated with wonder \nbecause of God’s generosity\, a joyous recognition before the divine greatness; \nthus thanksgiving is essential in the Bible because it is a fundamental religious \nreaction of creatures when they discover\, in a tremor of joy and veneration\, \nsomething of God’s greatness and glory. The capital sin of pagans\, according to \nPaul\, is “not to have rendered to God either glory or thanksgiving”. And\, in fact\, \nin the mass of hymns created by the piety of Mesopotamia\, the sentiment of \nthanksgiving is rare; while it is very frequent in the Bible and brings out \npowerful outpourings of the soul. \nAt the time of the New Covenant thanksgiving truly breaks forth\, \nbecoming present everywhere in the prayer and the life of the Christians as it \nhad never existed before among the just of the past. Biblical thanksgiving is \ntruly and essentially Christian. It is not exclusively Christian\, however\, to the \nextent that\, as was written in the Old Testament\, “Israelites praise without \ngiving thanks.” If the Old Testament does not yet know the fullness of \nthanksgiving\, it is because it has not yet tasted the fullness of grace. If praise\, \nmore spontaneous\, more exteriorized\, holds therein perhaps a greater place \nthan thanksgiving properly so called\, more reflective\, more attentive to God’s \nactions and self revelation\, it is because the most holy God is revealed only \nprogressively\, unveiling little by little the amplitude of the action and the depth \nof the gifts of God. \nBecause it is the revelation and the gift of perfect grace\, in the person of \nthe Lord\, it is also the revelation of the perfect thanksgiving rendered to the \nFather in the Holy Spirit. The supreme act of the Lord is thanksgiving; the \nsacrifice which Jesus made of His life in consecrating it to the Father in order \nthat He may sanctify His own is our Eucharist. At the last supper and on the \ncross\, Jesus reveals the drive of all His life and that of His death: thanksgiving \nfrom the heart of the Son. The passion and death of Jesus were necessary that \nHe might fully glorify the Father\, but all His life was an incessant thanksgiving\, \nwhich sometimes was made explicit and solemn\, to draw all to believe and \nreturn thanks to God with Jesus. \nThe essential object of this thanksgiving is the work of God\, the Messianic \nrealization\, notably manifested by miracles\, the gift of His word which God has \nmade to everyone. The gift of the Eucharist to the church expresses an essential \ntruth: only Jesus Christ is our thanksgiving\, just as He alone is our praise. It is \nHe first of all who gives thanks to the Father\, and Christians afterwards in \nHim. In Christian thanksgiving\, Christ is the sole model and sole mediator. In \nthe heavenly Jerusalem\, with the Messianic work fulfilled\, thanksgiving \nbecomes pure praise of glory\, dazzling contemplation of God and the eternal \nmarvels.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-thanksgiving/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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