Dear Fellow Parishioners, Being from Massachusetts I like many Baystaters come to think of Thanksgiving as our gift to the nation. Of course, the actual history tells a different story. George Washington in 1789 issued his Thanksgiving proclamation designating Thursday November 26, 1789 the first national celebration of public “thanks-giving.” It was President Lincoln that proclaimed Thanksgiving to be an annual celebration for our nation. Interesting enough, Thomas Jefferson in 1801 refused to endorse the Thanksgiving tradition because of its Puritan religious roots. We have many reasons to give thanks, not just one day or weekend a year, but daily. As Catholics we celebrate the Eucharist (Mass) every single day. Eucharist” originates from the Greek word eucharistia, meaning thanksgiving. As we celebrate this time of “public” thanksgiving I am hoping that we can all open our eyes to the many blessings that we receive on a daily basis and give thanks. This weekend we also celebrate the Feast of Christ the King. It is the end of our journey with the Gospel of Matthew. We have journeyed through all 25 chapters throughout this past year. I asked you during Advent last year to read one chapter a day before Christmas to prepare for this journey. I am going to take a stab at reading it over again this week before we begin another Advent Season to refresh my memory of all the lessons learned throughout this past year. As we begin Advent 2023, we will be walking through the shortest of the four Gospels, the Gospel of Mark. There are only 16 chapters, so why not take the time to read it as we begin to unpack the lessons Mark has in store for us in the year ahead? It is the long Thanksgiving weekend. What better way to spend it than giving thanks for the gift of our faith and deepening our understanding of Eucharist and the Word of God as found in the Good News of Matthew and Mark? Fr. Bill