As most everyone knows, our national Thanksgiving Day is inspired by the harvest festival of gratitude observed by the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians in 1621. The Pilgrims had left England for the sake of religious freedom. Their goal was to reach the colony of Virginia, but poor planning and imprecise navigation brought them instead to the uninhabited land north of Plymouth, Massachusetts. A fierce winter set in and they were on their own with precious little food. Nearly half of their number didn’t survive.
When Spring arrived, they set to work plowing and planting. Fortunately for them, the native people, and most especially an Indian named Squanto, came to their assistance. The pilgrims were taught how to plant and fish and ended up being blessed with better health and an abundant harvest that autumn. Their leader, William Bradford, announced a festival of gratitude to God, a thanksgiving celebration to our Creator for giving and preserving the gift of life in their quest for religious freedom.
Of the original 102, only 50 survived to that first Thanksgiving and of the 18 women who landed at Plymouth Rock, only four were still alive. And yet, they all gave thanks. They chose to focus on the blessings and not the troubles. They had a confident hope in Christ which enabled them to look beyond their tremendous suffering and offer thanks even amidst what they had endured.
This deep abiding faith in God that permeates the spirit and story of the Pilgrims is part of the national heritage of us all. This is why “In God We Trust” is on national motto. It is meant to be the motto of every American. This firm faith in God, even through struggles and setbacks, encouraged the Pilgrims to persevere in their quest for religious freedom and to devote all their energies to preserving their lives in the New World.
We must never forget that the Pilgrim commitment to the free worship of God, together with respect for His gift of life, are the very foundation of this country and have contributed to make its character what it is. If we abandon these things then we betray who we are as a people; who we have been as a nation; and what we are meant to be as Americans. Every year on this special day in November, we take a break from our busy schedules to observe a time dedicated to giving thanks for family and friends, food and housing, employment and education. But if we focus just on these material blessings we lose sight of what really matters.
Showing our thanks to God actively and not just passively is becoming even more important for us now than ever before. In January 2021, one of the most anti-Catholic and certainly the most anti-life administrations will be inaugurated into the presidential leadership of our nation. And sadly, this was made possible by people who identify as Christians and is led by a man who calls himself Catholic, yet tramples upon the Gospel of Life preached by Christ. However, we can’t let this squash our Pilgrim-spirit. Instead, we should see this as a call to action, a time to stand up for religious freedom and for the gift of human life in our land.
We must pray and act and speak with the same dogged determination that filled the Pilgrims. Like them we must show by word and deed that we are grateful for what God has so generously bestowed upon us. With Pilgrim-fortitude, we must act responsibly and not let these setbacks deter our dedication to religious freedom and the protection of all human life . If all we do is speak our thanks without showing it in action, then we are not truly cherishing nor courageously protecting what is most special and precious about being American.
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