How can you be thankful if you are in a “living
hell?”
Ravensbruck was the largest concentration camp
for women in Germany. By the end of WWII it held 50,000 women.
Two sisters were brought there – Corrie and
Betsie ten Boom. After a few months they were assigned to a new barracks –
Barracks 28. They quickly noticed it smelled
of sewage and soiled bedding. When Corrie lay down to try to sleep, she felt a
sharp pinch on her leg – “Fleas”: she cried. So many of them. Betsie, how can we live with them?
It came to Betsie’s mind a verse from the Bible
– Paul’s Letter to the Thessalonians - Rejoice always, pray constantly, give
thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus.”
That’s the answer Corrie – we must give thanks
– starting with every single thing in this new barracks.
Such as???
Such as being assigned here together.
Such as what you are holding in your hand
(somehow they had been able to hold on to a Bible)
Thank you there was no inspection when we entered.
Thank you for the women with us. Thank you
that we are crowded so that more may hear God’s Word.
Thank you for the fleas.
Corrie - Now you are going too far – there is
no way I can be grateful for them.
Betsie – Paul says give thanks in all
circumstances.
So Corrie gave thanks, but she was sure her
sister was wrong.
Weeks wore on – more work, less food, more
women. At night they would use their Bible to help everyone pray – to keep hope
and love alive.
They were just waiting to be caught – and punished
– or even put to death. Yet, there was
never an inspection. No guards ever came in.
For many, their work was knitting – knitting and
knitting. One day there was confusion about sizes – they asked the supervisor
to come in and settle it. But, the supervisor would not, and neither would the
guards.
Why not?
They said – we are not going in there - the place is crawling with
fleas! Corrie remembered what Betsie said:
– give thanks to God for the fleas!
And so – on this Thanksgiving Day – we give
thanks – for the good, and even for the bad – even though we may not understand
at the time.
And, it is wonderful that we give thanks at Mass.
Greek word for Thanksgiving - eucharisteo—it
comes right out of the Gospel of Luke: “And he took bread, gave thanks and
broke it, and gave it to them … ” (Luke 22:19 NIV). In the original language, “he gave eucharisteo.”
The root word of eucharisteo is charis,
meaning “grace.”
Jesus took the bread and saw it
as grace and gave thanks. He took the bread and knew
it to be gift and gave thanks.
Eucharisteo, thanksgiving, envelopes the Greek word for
grace, charis. But it also holds its derivative, the Greek
word chara, meaning “joy.” Charis.
Grace. Eucharisteo. Thanksgiving. Chara.
Joy.
Deep chara joy
is found only at the table of the euCHARisteo; the table of
thanksgiving. The Eucharist is the central act of Christianity. Doesn’t the
continual repetition of beginning our week at the table of the Eucharist
clearly place the whole of our lives into the context of thanksgiving?
One of Christ’s very last
directives He offers to His disciples is to take the bread, the wine, and to
remember. Do this in remembrance of Me. Remember and give thanks.
This is the core of Christianity:
to remember and give thanks, eucharisteo.
Rejoice always, pray constantly,
give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus.
Happy Thanksgiving!
