Inspiration
A story is told about
how God sent out two angels, each bearing a large basket, to gather all the
people’s prayers. The angels came to
earth and one began to collect petitions, the other thanksgivings. One of the baskets, the one containing
petitions—requests, appeals, and complaints—was soon full and
overflowing. The other basket, the
one containing thanksgivings, was practically empty! Why do many people find it difficult to
live thankfully for what they have?
Do we find ourselves often wanting and asking for more than we need?
The
Parable of the Rich Fool (Lk 12:16-21) is the
designated Gospel lesson for the Ninth Sunday of Luke which usually occurs
around the time of Thanksgiving. The
double theme here is wealth and thanksgiving. In the parable, Jesus paints with bold
strokes a picture of an apparently successful man whose only problem seemed
to be the abundance of his wealth.
After a good harvest, the rich man was worried about lack of a place
to store his crops. To the rich
fool, bigger barns meant lasting security, so that he could live easily,
eat, drink and be merry. That night,
however, God called him to give account for his soul and asked the rich
fool: Who will get all these things you have kept stored up? In the verses that follow, Jesus
describes the appropriate relationship we should have to our material
possessions. He states that a fool
is one who piles up riches for oneself but is not rich toward God. He goes
on to show that we should not be anxious for our material possessions:
“Consider the ravens for they neither sow nor reap…and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the
birds.” If we seek the kingdom of
God first, our heavenly Father will care for all our needs, for it is His
good pleasure to give us even His Heavenly Kingdom. Christ sums up the appropriate
disposition to our material wealth when he says, “Where your treasure is,
there your heart will be also.”
But
often we are forgetful of these things.
We become engrossed with our own concerns, plans and obligations.
Temptations, trials, anxiety, even pain also make it difficult for us to be
thankful. Christians are encouraged,
however, to be thankful even in adversity.
An excellent encouragement to lead thankful lives is the Divine
Liturgy. The Divine Liturgy is
called EUCHARIST or THANKSGIVING because its heart is the prayer of
consecration in which the bread and wine, basic fruits of the earth and
man’s work, are offered as gifts of thanksgiving; gifts we give to God
which He consecrates and transforms and offers back to us as the precious
Body and Blood of Christ. These gifts are offered to God with the
realization that they, too, are gifts of God to us. Echoing David’s prayer in 2 Chronicles
29:14, the celebrant priest chants: “We offer You, Lord, these gifts from
Your own gifts, for all things and in all circumstances!”
Taken from:
A Year of the Lord: Liturgical Bible Studies, vol.2, Late Fall &
Winter, by Fr. Theodore Stylianopoulos, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese
Department of Religious Education, 1982
