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Norman Rockwell’s painting Saying Grace originally appeared on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post’s 1951 Thanksgiving issue. It soon became one of Rockwell’s most beloved works.
Saying Grace
In 2013, Rockwell’s painting sold for $46 million, the highest amount a single American painting had ever sold at an auction. The painting depicts a grandmother and grandson praying over their meal in a crowded diner as puzzled customers watch.
The Post offered this introduction to the painting.
“The world is not a happy place these days. There are wars and threats of wars. Anxiety and frustration abound. In many quarters we see bankruptcy of morals. So, suddenly comes the day to give thanks for the goodness of life. Perhaps this can best be done by someone like this little old lady who, wherever she may be, bows her head to say grace, speaking not analytically from the mind but spontaneously from the heart.”
This introduction written almost 70 years ago could be written today!
Thanksgiving traditions
Many of us like to hear the word “thanks.” Jesus revealed that He does too! In Luke 17:11-19, Jesus cured 10 lepers, but only one returned to thank him. Jesus seemed disappointed when He asked, “Were not ten cured? Where are the other nine?”
On Thanksgiving Day, we Americans take time out from our busy lives to thank God for our blessings.
Thanksgiving is an American holiday with religious roots. In 1620, 102 pilgrims sailed to North America to build a new world where they would be free to worship God according to their conscience.
The first year, 56 of them died from starvation, disease, and winter cold. The pilgrims had every reason to be depressed. However, in 1621, those who survived and 91 Native Americans gave thanks for a bountiful harvest and for the preservation of their lives.
Thanksgiving has become an American national holiday. But for some of us, it may be a day that we are grateful we don’t have to work, a day to relax, to have fun, and eat good food. This may tempt us to forget God who provided good things for us.
Deacon Greg Kandra wrote that his wife’s family has a Thanksgiving tradition that helps their family to be thankful. Her dad asks one of the children to read aloud George Washington’s Thanksgiving proclamation from 1789.
It includes this inspiring sentence, “Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday, the twenty-sixth day of November next to be devoted by the people of these states to the service of the great and glorious being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, is and that will be.”
The best prayer
“The best prayer is that of gratitude and praise,” Pope Francis said at the Mass to conclude the Synod on the Amazon! The sum of Christian life is one of thanksgiving to God for everything especially for sending us Jesus. God the Father gave us the ultimate love — the sacrifice of His own Son — so that we might join Him in Heaven one day. What greater gift can there be than this!
Sometimes disabled persons can inspire us by their quiet heroic gratitude.
In How to Stop Worrying and Start Living, Dale Carnegie wrote that Harold Abbot was unemployed and deeply in debt. He was very discouraged. On his way to the bank to try to borrow more money again, he encountered a man without legs, propelling himself along the street sitting on a wooden platform, much like a skateboard. He greeted Abbot with a smile and exclaimed, “Good morning sir, it’s a fine morning, isn’t it?” His words were a short, but effective sermon!
Abbot realized that if this legless man could be that cheerful and thankful, how much more should he, who had two good legs, be.
With renewed courage, he went to the bank, got the loan, and a few days later, a job.
Gratitude transforms us
William Arthur Ward wrote that gratitude can transform common days into thanksgiving, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings. Pope Francis said, “Faith is lived with joyous gratitude, not slave like duty.”
Thanksgiving Day helps us prepare for the Advent-Christmas season.
The Diocese of Madison Apostolate for Persons with Disabilities annually offers a Christmas party.
This is an opportunity for people with disabilities, the elderly, and their friends and family to gather for a joyful celebration of Advent and Christmas when we thank God the Father for the gift of his Son.
Because of the pandemic, the Christmas party has been canceled this year.
We express our thanks for our blessings when we offer our day to God in our morning and evening prayer. Thanksgiving should be our trademark, because the Eucharist, the center of Catholic life, means thanksgiving. One of the best ways to thank God for our blessings is to participate prayerfully in the Mass. Strengthened by the Eucharist on Thanksgiving or any day, like the grandmother in Rockwell’s painting, let us be thankful wherever we are!
Fr. Donald Lange is a pastor emeritus in the Diocese of Madison.