There is something providential about the seasonal feasts that we celebrate as the end of each year approaches. The scriptural readings for the end of the liturgical year remind us that life is short and that we will one day have to account for having missed so many of the opportunities we have been given to live loving and self-sacrificial lives. At the same time that the Church is inviting us to examine our conscience, our nation celebrates a national day of Thanksgiving - reminding us of the countless gifts we have been given - family, faith, friends, and cultural blessings beyond reckoning.

Thanksgiving has become America's more or less official beginning of the Christmas season, as the first Sunday of Advent is for the Church. May this season be a time when we remember what is truly important and begin anew to live more generous, selfless and loving lives. 

We sincerely hope that the coming weeks will be filled with blessings, and that we will all grow more grateful for the many blessings that we too often take for granted.