Thanksgiving Day [In the Dioceses of the United States]

REFLECTION:

These past two days, I’ve been with our high school freshmen answering their questions about the Eucharist. One class had two young men who asked especially thoughtful questions. At one point, one of them said, “How do I know I’m on the right path that God wants me to be on?”

The only answer that came to me was: “If you are at peace with the path you’ve chosen, then you have chosen wisely.” And peace, I told them, is often the fruit of a grateful heart.

Scripture mentions gratitude 157 times, showing us that gratitude is not an optional virtue—it is foundational. Gratitude clarifies the heart and aligns us with God’s will. Gratitude helps us recognize His presence. Gratitude brings the peace that lets us walk confidently in the path God has set for us.

Yet today’s Gospel reminds us how easily gratitude slips away. Ten lepers cried out to Jesus for mercy, and all ten were healed—yet only one returned to give thanks. He interrupted his journey, turned around, and went back to the source of his healing. His gratitude brought him not just physical restoration, but spiritual salvation. Jesus says to him, “Your faith has saved you.” The other nine continued on their way, perhaps overwhelmed with joy or eager to start their new life. But they missed something essential: the blessing becomes complete only when we return to the Giver.

This idea—returning to give thanks—is at the heart of our Catholic faith. Because the very word “Eucharist” means “thanksgiving.” To return to the Eucharist is to return like the Samaritan leper—to fall at the feet of Jesus, to acknowledge what He has done, and to offer the greatest act of gratitude we possess.

Every Mass is our opportunity to turn back to Jesus and say, “Thank You, Lord.” It is the highest expression of thanksgiving humanity can offer: Christ giving Himself to us, and we offering ourselves back to Him.

What Scripture teaches spiritually, modern research confirms in its own way. A 2024 Harvard study revealed that gratitude strengthens mental health, improves sleep, lowers stress, reduces inflammation, and is even connected with longer life expectancy. The researchers found that gratitude is a practice, especially important on difficult days. Tyler VanderWeele noted, “Even on those bad days where life seems difficult, that effort is worthwhile.”

Gratitude, then, is not just a feeling—it is a discipline. It is the spiritual decision to turn around, just like the Samaritan, and return to Jesus. And for us as Catholics, the place we return to most profoundly is the Eucharist.

In the Eucharist:

• We acknowledge God’s blessings, seen and unseen.
• We remember Christ’s sacrifice.
• We receive His Body and Blood.
• And we give thanks with the whole Church.

The Eucharist is our weekly, even daily, act of “turning back,” of falling at His feet in gratitude.

On this Thanksgiving Day, the Gospel invites us to ask: Am I one of the nine who kept walking, or am I the one who returns?

Do I move quickly from blessing to blessing? Or do I return to Jesus—especially in the Eucharist—to give thanks?

Today, may we be the ones who return. May we be the ones who notice God’s grace. May we be the ones who come back to the altar, to the Eucharist, the greatest act of thanksgiving in our faith. Because the heart that returns to Jesus in gratitude is a heart that finds peace— the same peace that guides a teenager seeking God’s path, and the same peace that guides each of us today.