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Thanks, and Thanks and Forever Thanks!

Am I a sour grape or am I the good fruit of gratitude and thanksgiving?

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This Fr. Gerry Creedon homily was delivered at St. Charles on October 6, 2002

I want to begin with an aside about the violence referenced in today's readings. The owner of the vineyard comes and finds not judgment and justice in the land but bloodshed and outcry. Violence is with us too much. Many questions come to mind after seeing the size of the guns that might have been used by the sniper(s) in the recent random killings in the area.

Who produces them? Who manufactures them? Who distributes them?

My grandmother wouldn't allow a shotgun in her house, but we have this easy tolerance and affection for guns. The distinction made by many gun enthusiasts is that it is the killers not the guns that kill. It is time to reflect on restraints.

(See the U S Bishops and Guns www.nccbuscc.org/sdwp/national/criminal/gunsample.htm ).

The main theme of the readings is gratitude. My father would compliment my mother when she made tea properly, not the weak tea one finds here but good strong tea, saying, "This tea is like wine!" My mother also had expressions and aspirations. She always looked for new accumulations to her store. She recited often the end of a prayer she had found recently, "Thanks, and thanks and forever thanks."

My youngest brother, Willie John, who is the 10th of the boys in the family and third youngest of 14, offered a poetic reflection at my mother's funeral. Unlike some members of the family he always had a very appreciative approach to my parents.

The time has come to say goodbye
You are waving us off again
A bright star flashed across the sky
You're back with good old friends.
Gone to that house of many rooms
That the Lord himself designed
Perhaps it's bold but I've assumed
The angels make a tea like wine.
We thank you Ma for the gift of life
For love and care undying
For being strong in times of strife
With faith and prayer inspiring.
You are leaving this world but yet not gone
Just getting up and moving on
Going to join the good Lord's ranks
Thanks, and thanks, and forever thanks.

Some sons and daughters are inclined to blame all their complexes on the mistakes in child rearing at the hands of a father or mother.

Sour Grape or Good Fruit? A Fundamental Choice

The first reading asks the question, "What more was there to do that I had not done?" Parents give their lives freely and generously for their children and yet some children are responsible and appreciative and others are as the scripture says, "sour grapes". Many parents fret, thinking what more could we have done that we didn't do?

Am I a sour grape or am I the good fruit of gratitude and thanksgiving. It is a fundamental choice we make in our lives. Do we have a sense of God having blessed us? Do we have an awareness of God being for us? A farmer who cultivates the vineyard takes care of the garden and plants everything with great concern? Is God someone who has cultivated us in a thousand different, unrecognized ways?

The Eucharist celebrates God's caring for us, loving us, giving us good news and salvation. The word of God calls forth a response in gifts of gratitude, thanksgiving, giving, and Eucharist.

This dynamic came to mind when I received a call last week. I had found a drivers license in the parking lot and returned it to the owner in Wisconsin. I received a voice mail saying, "You don't have to call me back but you sent my drivers license to me and in appreciation I want to give you something so there's a check in the mail for St. Charles!" She wanted to return a gift somehow.

I was discussing these readings with Father Mendez on the feast of St. Francis this past week. He shared about his father in Spain. His father had a garden and every year it brought forth beautiful fruit, but one year he had worked really hard in the garden and it produced nothing. What did his father do? He paved over the garden.

Thanks-Giving

Here at St. Charles I think we are a corner of God's vineyard. I see great evidence of thanksgiving. The pile of earth outside is one sign. I have heard comments, "I cannot believe this is really happening." People underestimate the willingness of people to come together and share. No one person could do a project like this. A lot of people coming together make things possible.

Next week we will have our ministries fair. Every year 200 people or more come to offer their time and talent to place themselves at the disposal of the mission of the church here at St. Charles. I believe they volunteer less out of a sense of obligation, than a desire to contribute to others in the realization that they themselves have been blessed and gifted.

If we still have sour grapes in us this morning, let's get rid of them. If you are still blaming all of your complexes on your mother or your father, give them a break at least today. Instead let's count our blessings and bear good fruit. In each liturgy and each Mass we offer, "thanks, and thanks and forever thanks".

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Revised/reviewed November 27, 2002