First Thanksgiving - St. Augustine Florida

      HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

I’m so happy this is the first Thanksgiving I ever had with (Indians) Red Skins. Today, Americans gather with their families to thank God for all He has done for us. The first American Thanksgiving was not at Plymouth Rock in 1621 as we were taught in school. Rather, the first Thanksgiving was on September 8, 1565 at St. Augustine, Florida the oldest city of our present day United States, when the landing of Captain General Pedro Menendez and his fleet of soldiers and colonists.

In an official ceremony Don Pedro Menendez came ashore amid the sounding of trumpets, artillery salutes and the firing of cannons to claim the land for King Philip II and Spain. One of the priests on the boat, Fr. Francisco Lopez, who had gone ashore the previous day, advanced to meet Don Pedro, chanting the Te Deum carrying a cross which Menendez and those with him reverently kissed. Then the 500 soldiers, 200 sailors and 100 families and artisans, along with the Timucuan Indians from a nearby village, gathered at a makeshift altar, and a Mass in honor of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary was offered. The Mass was followed by a feast shared by the Spanish and the Timucuan Indians. The Timucuans brought wild turkey, deer meat, oysters and giant clams, as well as maize, beans, squash, nuts and fruits. The Spaniards contribution was a stew made with pork, garbanzo beans and onions, along with biscuits, olive oil and red wine.

For Catholic Spaniards the Mass was the most important way of thanking God for arriving safely. The word “Eucharist” means thanksgiving. Whenever we come to Mass we thank God for the gift of being able to receive Jesus in Holy Communion and attend Holy Mass.

This year we should especially thank God for Eucharistic Adoration and the many faithful adorers who come to be with Jesus.

There are so many things we should be thankful for. We can thank the good Lord for all the gifts in our life and talents and the gift to be able to help others and love others. Not only should we thank God for the gift of the sun, moon, stars and all of His creation, we should thank Him for the gift of our life, the gift of our family. The gift of our jobs, home, food, clothing, our health and providing for all our needs. We should be thankful for the gift of being able to live in a free country and thankful for those who serve in the military and those who died for our country and all our country’s resources.

We should thank God for the gift of our faith, the gift of our baptism, the gift of confirmation, the gift of all the times God forgave us in Confession and all the Holy Masses we attended Communions received. For some the sacrament of marriage, for priests we thank God for the gift of holy priesthood.

We should even thank God for the gift of pain, suffering, disease and illnesses which are really gifts in disguise. God permits pain and suffering to purify our soul. It atones for our sins and the sins of others (reducing our purgatory time), draws us closer to God and can be used to bring about the conversion of sinners. We praise the Lord in the midst of our storms because He is with us through them. We thank the Lord because our help comes from the Lord, who wipes away our tears and gives us peace, no matter the circumstances of life. If we thank God for hardships, difficulties, pains and sufferings we enter into the mystery of the Holy Mass which is an offering up of the sacrifice of Jesus to the Father, in which we are eternally grateful --because through the suffering and death of Jesus, we have the opportunity to gain eternal life and we thank Jesus for coming to dwell within us in Holy Communion, where our heart is united to His.

And let us thank someone, rarely thanked, the Virgin Mary, who constantly intercedes for us before the throne of Her Son. Her magnificat is a prayer of thanksgiving for all God has done for Her and for us, through Her. Every generation calls Her blessed because every generation receives blessings through Her. Thank You, O Blessed Mother, for every grace and gift we have received through your hands, you are the Mediatrix of All Graces and please thank God for everything He has given us and will give us in the future especially the gift of eternal life. Amen.