Dear Parishioners,

As your pastor, today I will celebrate my 66th birthday! Once again, I would like to thank all of you for making my 40th Anniversary of Ordination a great success. Your cards, gifts and warm wishes of gratitude are more deeply appreciated with each passing day.

Jesus says in the Gospel, “Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to My voice” so I must also acknowledge the centrality of Jesus in my life. The truth of His parables, His stories of healing, His generosity of forgiveness and acceptance have always confirmed the truth of His voice in my heart.

In another place in the Gospel, Jesus says, “My kingdom does not belong to this world.”. Indeed, the kingdom of which Jesus speaks is inspired by Him in the human heart and it is from this place that I wish you God’s most gracious blessing during this Thanksgiving week.

Be good to each other, pray for a better world and give thanks to God for everything God has given you. Happy Thanksgiving dear friends!
 

In Christ, 

I would suspect that the Thanksgiving holiday might be the national favorite because it has a spiritual component that is not grounded in any specific denomination. Everyone understands the concept of giving thanks and the holiday provides us with a non-denominational God to whom we give thanks. It is for this reason that many towns have an Ecumenical Thanksgiving Service. Our town of Wayne is no exception and this year our own Annual Wayne Clergy Fellowship Interfaith Thanksgiving Service will be held at the United M:ethodist Church at 99 Parish Drive on Tuesday evening, November 20 at 7:00 PM. I sincerely hope that many of you will be able to join us for this deeply spiritual and festive service.

Thanksgiving has evolved from simply giving thanks for the food we eat to a much deeper appreciation of God’s generosity to us. We are deeply blessed, as Americans, with a wonderful country to live in and great traditions of democracy and freedom, which are the foundations of our nation. As you gather with your family and friends, I would hope that every parish family does not forget to pray before you enjoy the traditional Thanksgiving meal. Please make it an inclusive and deeply heartfelt prayer — perhaps asking the children to add their own special intentions and, of course, do not forget to remember those who are too far away to join family and friends, especially our troops at sea or in foreign lands. If you need a further suggestion, try and include some words of Jesus or even perhaps one of the many parables, which deal with Jesus caring for the poor.

I hope you will take the suggestions for prayer seriously. So many times grace before meals can be rather “canned” and “spoken” for the sake of being proper. Let your prayer be spontaneous and from your heart…

Let your prayer rise from your Thanksgiving table to the throne of the Almighty that our God may lovingly hold your family in the palm of His hand.