Free Republic

How to Thank God as He Has Instructed – A Meditation on Thanksgiving Day By: Msgr. Charles PopeYour grace and mercy,brought me through.I’m living this moment,Because of you.I want to thank you,And praise you too.Your grace and mercy,Brought me through!On this feast of Thanksgiving (here in America) we do well to ponder how we ought to give thanks to God. Indeed, how can one adequately thank God, who is the giver of every good and perfect gift? Is it really enough to simply kneel and say a prayer of thanks? Perhaps we should run to Church and light a...

On The Grace of Gratitude – A Thanksgiving MeditationBy: Msgr. Charles Pope One of the dangers in presenting New Testament moral teaching is that the preacher or teacher risks reducing the Gospel to a moralism. In other words the moral truth that is proclaimed is reduced merely to another rule that I am supposed to keep out of my own flesh power. This is an incorrect notion since, for a Christian, the moral life is not achieved, it is received. The moral life is not an imposition, it is a gift from God.In the Gospel chosen for the American...

How to Give Adequate Thanks to God. A Meditation on Thanksgiving DayBy: Msgr. Charles Pope On this feast of Thanksgiving (here in America) we do well to ponder how we ought to give thanks to God. Indeed, how can one adequately thank God who is the giver of every good and perfect gift? Is it really enough to simply kneel and say a prayer of thanks? Perhaps we should run to Church and light a candle, or visit some distant shrine? Perhaps even doing the “Snoopy dance” as we say over and over, Thank you thank you thank you”...

True gratitude is a grace, or gift from God which proceeds from a humble and transformed heart. In such a case we do not render thanks merely because it is polite or expected, or because God commands it, but because it naturally flows from a profound experience of gratitude. The “command” of Scripture to give thanks is not a moralism, but a truth and description of a transformed heart.Thus, an anointing to seek from God is a powerful transformation of our intellect and heart wherein we become deeply aware of the remarkable gift that everything we have really is....

“Great Is Thy Faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-33)“Great Is Thy Faithfulness”: The hymn our choir sang earlier and which we all will sing at the end of this service--this is definitely an appropriate hymn of thanksgiving and praise on this Day of Thanksgiving. How true are the words of the refrain: Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness! Morning by morning new mercies I see; All I have needed Thy hand hath provided; Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me! And since today is the Day of National Thanksgiving, we can also say the same thing about the Lord’s blessings on...

President Obama will proclaim this Thursday to be a day of thanksgiving, following a tradition established by America’s first president. Many American community traditions are built around this single meal. A holiday that now includes family gatherings, charitable feasts, televised parades, and college football must have had a significant beginning. Some in-depth investigation proves that Thanksgiving Day marks the most intriguing saga in the history of America. President George Washington first proclaimed a National Day of Thanksgiving in 1789 in response to a request by both Houses of Congress, “Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day...

“A Day of Publick Thanksgiving and Prayer” (Psalm 67)“Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you! Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth.” Including this nation, the United States of America! And so this day is a Day of National Thanksgiving, a day set aside to do just what the psalmist declares. On this day the people of our nation gladly and joyfully praise God for his many blessings on this good land he has given us. Well, at least...

As dark and hopeless as our world looked last Thanksgiving Day things have turned around and there is much to be optimistic about and thankful for this year. Counting our blessings is still easier here in America than in any other country. Even the poorest Americans eat meals many of the world’s citizens only dream about. We have a Bill of Rights and a full Constitution to protect us thanks to our Founding Fathers. Because of the foresight of those great men, we have the legal and moral tools we need to prevail against even the worst tyrants. Other societies...

“Thanksgiving: America’s Forgotten Holiday”Ah, Thanksgiving! Turkey, football, and the start of the holiday shopping season. No, wait, that started back around Labor Day. But seriously, is that what Thanksgiving has come to? An opportunity to eat 2,000 calories in one sitting, then fall asleep on the couch watching the Detroit Lions, so you can get up the next morning at 5:00 a.m. to buy presents for people you don’t like, with money you don’t have, for stuff they don’t need? Thanksgiving has become the Eve of Black Friday. And it’s a big day at the movie theatres, too. Got to...

<p>ALEXANDRIA, Pa. (AP) - The Rev. George M. Docherty, credited with helping to push Congress to insert the phrase "under God" into the Pledge of Allegiance, has died at 97.</p> <p>Docherty died on Thanksgiving at his home in central Pennsylvania, according to his wife, Sue Docherty.</p>

The Islamic terrorists in Mumbai targeted Westerners and wealthy Indians. They chose huge, 4000 room hotels and other large, highly symbolic targets such as cafes and the old Victoria railway station. But they also carefully chose a very tiny building, Nariman House, also a highly symbolic location. Chabad is a worldwide movement of Hasidic Jews who do not proselytize, who are not violent, who live to help others and who have “shluchim,” or messengers-in-service on every continent. Have the Princes of Saudi Arabia, the mullahs of Iran, the imams of Cairo, Baghdad, and London, the various Palestinian factions condemned the...

Archbishop Raymond Burke  Other Articles by Archbishop Raymond BurkePrinter Friendly Version   Thanksgiving Day and the Royal Heart of Jesus November 17, 2007 Next week, we celebrate Thanksgiving Day, one of the principal holidays of the year and a time for families to gather in celebration. Although Thanksgiving Day is a civic holiday, it was religious in its origins and remains for us always a religious celebration. Even as the Pilgrims desired to give thanks to God for the first harvest brought home in their new-found land, we want to give thanks to God for all of his many...

The 11 Commandments of a THANKSGIVING DINNER           To-Do's, to make your Holiday brighter..1) Make a list and check it twice.. Plan your menu in advance, and for heaven sakes write it down.. Pull out the recipes and jot down the ingredients and check to see if you have everything on hand to complete the meal without having to run to the store at the last minute.. Be sure to check the expiration date on spices and milks and dated stuff.. There isn't a good time on the day of a big dinner to run to any store, and the...

Text of President Bush's Thanksgiving Day proclamation, as provided by the White House: Nearly half a century ago, President Dwight Eisenhower proclaimed Thanksgiving as a time when Americans should celebrate "the plentiful yield of our soil ... the beauty of our land ... the preservation of those ideals of liberty and justice that form the basis of our national life and the hope of international peace." Now, in the painful aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks and in the midst of our resolute war on terrorism, President Eisenhower's hopeful words point us to our collective obligation to defend the ...

'Tis the season not to offend anyone? Friday, December 10, 2004 Kaeley Hay is your typical fifth-grader from Garwood, N.J. Kaeley and her classmates were given the assignment of writing a Thanksgiving Day poem. Who would have thought that such a traditional classroom exercise would trigger a Constitutional crisis? But, according the Newark Star-Ledger, that's pretty much what happened. Kaeley's verse was such a hit with her classmates that her rhyme was posted on the hallway bulletin board. The problem arose when school officials decided that the literary work of a 10-year-old violated the sacrosanct "separation between Church and State."...

Some thing not well known by most folks, interesing, and surprising. So where did you say the first Thanksgiving took place..?

Well, it's that time again, when we old timers dust off the holiday recipes. For you newcomers, just bear with us, it won't take long, and you could just move on if this is too corny for you to handle. Otherwise, cut and paste, and have a great Thanksgiving.. This is a bit early because I will once again be on the great oceans this years cookin and spinnin my tales of the kitchen.. ENJOY..God bless you and your family!.. Chef Remembering Our first recorded Thanksgiving DayThe Mayflower 1620- 2002 The voyage of the Mayflower in 1620 from Plymouth England,...

For Immediate ReleaseNovember 21, 2003 Proclamation by the President: Thanksgiving Day, 2003 Each year on Thanksgiving, we gather with family and friends to thank God for the many blessings He has given us, and we ask God to continue to guide and watch over our country. Almost 400 years ago, after surviving their first winter at Plymouth, the Pilgrims celebrated a harvest feast to give thanks. George Washington proclaimed the first National Day of Thanksgiving in 1789, and Abraham Lincoln revived the tradition during the Civil War. Since that time, our citizens have paused to express thanks for the...

It's time for me to start planning so that I can fulfill my promise to deliver a tasty fried Turkey this Thanksgiving Day. I know many of you have had experience with this culinary process and am looking for input and advice. I'm told that there is simply no better way to cook a Turkey so I am going to give it a go. 1) First, I have a series BTU outdoor gas cooking grill but I need to buy the pot. They come in many sizes so I'm wondering what is a good size (not too big or too...

Remembering Thanksgiving Day The Mayflower  1620- 2002 The voyage of the Mayflower in 1620 from Plymouth England, to Plymouth Rock started as a journey to find peace and justice in a new world. It began as a fervent prayer to give freedom a chance, and remains today as the promise each year for a new beginning. Thanksgiving Day is a celebration of hope, and remembrance. Today, we bring our families and friends together to share our tables and our hearts, and give thanks for all that we have to be grateful for in our new and glorious country. From this grand...