Written by Barb Spies, OFS, Director of Mission Services and Pastoral Care

Maybe you have been planning a menu for Thanksgiving for weeks. Or maybe your menu doesn’t vary from year to year. Cranberry sauce (both canned and homemade), turkey, homemade rolls, potatoes (both mashed and “Grandma’s Potatoes with butter and onions), black-eyed peas, corn, roast beef, and many, many pies. These are standard in our dinner plans. Another standard part of Thanksgiving for us is packing up boxes of food for the Holiday Food Drive for Capuchin Community Services in Milwaukee, as we live in the greater Milwaukee area. We take to heart the importance of providing for those who are without the good things that appear on our table.

Sister Ilia Delio tells us that “Francis of Assisi became a lover of the Word. Although he was especially attuned to hearing the Word of God through the reading of the Scriptures, Francis knew the Scriptures to be the living Word of God, and this Word pulled him into the current of created living beings. Francis found God in the cloister of creation. His love and understanding of the Incarnation, the Word made flesh, grew by touching, tasting, and seeing the good things of Creation.” St. Francis, in his immeasurable love of God, overflowed with love for all of God’s creation. That love led him to care for others to ensure their well-being.

As we plan our menus, may we keep on our lists of items to purchase and things to provide care for those in our communities who do not have the means to celebrate this holiday in abundance. This is our way of offering thanks to God for all of creation. As the hymn tells us: “All praise and glad thanksgiving To God the Father be: The Font of all things living, Who reigns eternally.”

Creator God, in your wisdom you bring forth all that is good and the harvest is plentiful. Strengthen us at your table with these gifts of the earth and our labor that we may work for the good of all, through Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen.

Blessed Angela: “Let your love be like Christ’s love, revealing itself not only in feelings but in deeds.”