Blessings of the Week - vol 32.

The Thanksgiving Edition:

-1-

Our Parish Community. We attended mass on Thanksgiving morning. It's the first year we could attend, as we usually have a houseful of guests expecting entertainment (and a much larger turkey needing longer cooking time). We were up, and decided to begin our day thanking God. What an absolutely beautiful experience. The church was packed. The offertory included a procession of donated food and other items that covered nearly all of the sanctuary in front of the altar. Several times, DH and I were brought to tears by the abundance of faith, hope and charity in this community. Pastor ended mass with a blessing of our donations and of rolls he bought from a local Italian bakery. Then, instead of a processional, both priests and both deacons stood in front of the church, passing out blessed rolls to everyone. Finally, we all helped carry the donated food out to the "Little Yellow Bus" owned by our St. Vincent de Paul Society, so that it could be delivered to food pantries. The biggest blessing: DH, BigBro and Princess all said they want to make Thanksgiving mass a permanent part of our holiday routine. We shall... no matter who is visiting or how large the turkey is.

-2-

Our Priests. We are so very lucky to have the two priests we do at our parish. Father is my spiritual director and our good friend. This week included an hour or so of direction, followed by him joining us for dinner and sticking around late into the night, talking, laughing and debating. Our Pastor is an incredibly generous and kind-hearted man... who helped us out of a real bind this week, and then laughed off our thanks, sharing similar episodes from his life.

-3-

A Full Table. This year, our Thanksgiving table was a little smaller than in years past. We lost my mother-in-law's dear friend in April. Family from my side weren't able to join us this year. But we had a wonderful time all the same. We sat around the table for hours, talking and laughing, recalling old memories and making new ones. It was a truly blessed Thanksgiving, in every way.