Photo by Hannah Busing on Unsplash
Lord of Gifts,
from your holy heart
has come a flood of gifts to us.
With up lifted hearts, we have gathered around this table
to thank you with prayer
and with the worship of feasting.
We are grateful
not only for the gifts of life itself,
but for all the gifts
of friendship, love, devotion, and forgiveness
that we have shared.
On this feast of giving thanks, Lord God,
we thank You for showing us how to return thanks
by lives of service,
by deeds of hospitality,
by kindness to a stranger
and by concern for each other.
We are most grateful, this feast day,
for the way You, our hidden God,
have become visible to us
in one another,
in countless daily gifts
and in the marvels of creation.
Come, Lord of gifts,
and bless our table and all the food of this feast.
Let us thank the Lord,
today and all days. Amen.
Edward Hays, Catholic Priest in the Archdiocese of Kansas City
______________________
Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever!
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
whom he has redeemed from trouble
and gathered in from the lands,
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south.
prayer & verse 