By: Billy O'Regan (Executive Director)
Happy Thanksgiving to our TEC family! If you watched our video above, you'll see that my second grade daughter, Jess, has been with me in the TEC Conference office lately.
Jess and I have been spending lots of quality time together the past couple of weeks, since one of her classmates tested positive for coronavirus. She and all of her other classmates have been quarantining at home and doing classes on Zoom. That has been difficult because we don’t get to see classmates and teachers and do all the other fun things we do at school.
And it’s a little difficult for me as her dad because I can’t get as much work done, but it’s also really nice, because we get lots of father/daughter time. We don’t get as much father/daughter time normally. We’ve been spending our time during her recess throwing Frisbees and making sweet little crafts. A couple of days ago, she made me this cross that has "TEC" written on it with her name and a heart in the middle that I’ve had taped up here on my desk.
I would challenge all of you in the midst of what looks to be a really different kind of Thanksgiving this year to think about what these circumstances offer you in order to be thankful and mindful of the things in your life that maybe you take for granted most years. I hope you have a very holy and fun and different Thanksgiving.
I invite you all to take a moment on Thanksgiving and reflect on the second reading for mass on Thanksgiving day, from 1 Cor 1:3-9...
Brothers and sisters:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I give thanks to my God always on your account
for the grace of God bestowed on you in Christ Jesus,
that in him you were enriched in every way,
with all discourse and all knowledge,
as the testimony to Christ was confirmed among you,
so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift
as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He will keep you firm to the end,
irreproachable on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God is faithful,
and by him you were called to fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
I also invite you to consider other favorite Bible verses about thankfulness and gratitude. Share them with your family or friends and incorporate them into your daily prayer. Here are a few to get started with:
"As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thankfulness." (Col 2:6-7)
"And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do , in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." (Col 3:15-17)
"O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. O give thanks to God of gods, for his steadfast love endures forever. O give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever..." (Psalm 136:1-3)
"We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Thess 1:2-3)
May God bless you abundantly, and may you all have a happy Thanksgiving.
