The Solemnity Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe San Antonio, November 22nd, 2020
Dear Faithful Parishioners, Our liturgical calendar Year A is almost over and soon we will welcome Advent Season in few days. That means Season of Hope, Joy, Peace, and Love is just around the corner as we are waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. But before we go there, I would like to remind you how grateful we are for we just closed this Year A on Sunday with the Solemnity Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. It is a great liturgical celebration which reminds us who Jesus Christ is for us; and for thisthere are always reasons for us to be thankful for and being grateful to God, especially through Our Lord Jesus Christ.
To be thankful for means, we are aware of how gracious God is for us in our lives, especially for the gifts we have received from Him. Likewise, being grateful is also a sign of our human consciousness of the endless bond of life in which God includes us in His circle of creation. Both of these words assume a mutual relationship between the giver and the receiver, this is what we call “Thanks-giving” and this is what we celebrate through our Christian faith, Thanksgiving Day on Thursday, November 26th, 2020.
As our cultural tradition, Thanksgiving is always a wonderful day of celebration; and it has special place in our hearts. If we know how to be thankful for when we receive the good things from God, it would be wonderful also to be grateful when we receive or experience unfortunate things. As Job said in the Old Testament, we need to see things in our lives through our faith (Job 2:10). It is because God works on us differently, according to our abilities. Therefore, there is no reason for us not to thank God in this Thanksgiving Day; and although this year our Thanksgiving Day has a different face due to the pandemic, it will not discourage us not to celebrate it in a safe-manner. That is why this year Thanksgiving Day truly has challenged us to reshape firmly our faith and invites us to go beyond our cultural tradition in the middle of a difficult time of this pandemic. Thanksgiving is a day when we give thanks to God for the gift of life, a day when we reshape our faith, and a day to reestablish our mutual relationship with Him, especially for the grace we have received in our lives.
Through this letter; on behalf of our parish staff, volunteers, parish ministers, and deacons, I would like to encourage you to be safe, stay healthy, and maintain social distancing as all of you celebrate Thanksgiving Day with your loved ones. Let us make Thanksgiving Day this year meaningful through our prayer as a moment of blessing, not only for each one of us and for our community, but also for others; especially for those who are unable to celebrate it during this difficult time of the pandemic. Again, Happy Blessed Thanksgiving Day and may abundance blessing of our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe shine upon you all.
Respectfully, ++ Cor Unum et Anima Una Fr. Sonny Aryanto, CICM Parish Administrator