Giving Thanks

Every year we (seminarians) are placed in a parish in order to gain experience and insight into practicing ministry. It could be thought of as an internship.

Some of you may already know that I am doing my final placement at the Church of St. James the Apostle in downtown Montreal. Part of our duties include preaching and, last Sunday I had the privilege of preaching my first sermon since I've been back from Brasil at St. James the Apostle. A parish that I am humbled to return to in this my In-Ministry Year.

Today, Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving - an opportunity to gather with friends and family to give thanks for the many things we have received over the last year.

The Gospel reading for yesterday was the story of Jesus and the ten lepers - all of whom were healed, but only one of them returned (the Samaritan) to give thanks. Here is a snippet from my sermon and the gist of my message on this thanksgiving weekend:

"God knows that we’re thankful and God doesn’t need our thanksgivings for God’s personal growth and well-being. But our giving voice to our thankfulness gives us the opportunity to grow spiritually, to realize the greater cosmos that we are a part of, that we are God’s children and to recognize those beauties and gifts that exist in our lives. Saying thank you gives us balance, and restores us to wholeness – it balances our spiritual life and helps us to understand our lives in the presence of our Master."

And so, in the spirit of continued thanks, I will spend this weekend giving thanks for the people I encountered this past summer in Brasil, the relationships I cultivated, the opportunities I was given, the experiences I had and the ministry that was received and given in my internship in the Diocese of the Amazon.

I am also thankful for the opportunity to visit the land of the Holy One, to study at St. George's College in Jerusalem, to have been blessed with several encounters with various people, both visitors and natives to the Holy Land, and I am thankful for the new insights, fresh ways of reading and experiencing the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures.

Happy Thanksgiving!