Both 'to thank' and 'to give' are transitive verbs; they require an object. We can't just say I thank or I give. We can say I thank you or I give you thanks.
And so, who do we give thanks to?
Parable of the Lost Drachma by Domenico Fetti
O felix culpa!
That's Latin for O happy fault! I'll get back to that in a moment.
At this time of year we often say how thankful we are for our health, our families and friends, our jobs, etc. It is only right to give thanks to God for all of those things.
But what about the bad things? Should we give thanks for those, too? Our trials and troubles can make us stronger, improve our character, teach us patience and humility, and if nothing else make us appreciate the good things.
After all, if there was no bad then good would have no meaning.
"Oh happy fault that merited such and so great a Redeemer." So goes a line in a song traditionally sung during the Easter Vigil mass. If not for the Fall in the Garden of Eden, then there's no need for Jesus Christ to redeem us. Put another way, there's no reason for God to demonstrate the astounding love and mercy he shows us in his Son, Jesus. There's no reason for the Father to search for his wayward children; the house doesn't need to be swept in search of a lost coin.
It's a peculiar theological concept and is worth much reflection.
The following is a reflection by Ann Voskamp on Luke 17:11-19. This Gospel passage recounts Jesus' healing of ten lepers, one of which returns to give thanks to Jesus. Jesus tells this leper, "Stand up and go; your faith has saved you."
Ten Lepers Healed by Brian Kershisnik
I look back to the text. That is what it says: "Thy faith has saved thee." And the leper's faith was a faith that said thank you. Is that it? Jesus counts thanksgiving as integral in a faith that saves.
We only enter into the full life if our faith gives thanks.
Because how else do we accept his free gift of salvation if not with thanksgiving? Thanksgiving is the evidence of our acceptance of whatever he gives. Thanksgiving is the manifestation of our Yes! to his grace.
Thanksgiving is inherent to a true salvation experience; thanksgiving is necessary to live the well, whole, fullest life.
"If the Church is in Christ, its initial act is always an act of thanksgiving, of returning the world to God," writes Orthodox theologian Alexander Schmemann. If I am truly in Christ, mustn't my initial act, too, always be an act of thanksgiving, returning to Jesus with thanks on the lips?
I would read it much later in the pages of the Psalms, at the close of a Communion service as the bread and the wine were returned to the table, the Farmer handing his Bible over to me, his finger holding the verse for me to see because he had just read it there, what I had been saying, living, believing, and the chin would quiver before I'd brim at the way God shows his salvation: "He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God" (Ps 50:23)
Thanksgiving - giving thanks in everything - prepares the way that God might show us his fullest salvation in Christ.
from One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are
The First Thanksgiving at Plymouth
by Jennie A. Brownscombe
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