28th Sunday Ordinary Time

Fr. Peter Robinson

Preached: Oct. 13, 2024

On this Thanksgiving weekend, I think it is helpful to pause for a moment to reflect on the history of Thanksgiving in Canada. Did you know that it blends Indigenous traditions with European influences? As for its indigenous roots: long before European settlers arrived, various Indigenous peoples in Canada celebrated the fall harvest with ceremonies and festivals.

For example, the Mi’kmaq of Nova Scotia honoured their creator, whom they knew as “Glooscap,” during their autumn celebrations.  As for European influence: the first recorded European Thanksgiving in North America was celebrated by Sir Martin Frobisher and his ship’s crew in 1578. It was their way to give thanks to God for their safe arrival in the New World.

However, because there were different dates for Thanksgiving across Canada, it was fixed to the second Monday in October by the Canadian Parliament in 1957. As we all know well, Thanksgiving is now a time for families and friends to gather, share a meal, and to give thanks for the year’s blessings.

That said, I would like to dig deeper into the theme of thanksgiving; in particular, I want to turn our attention to “spiritual” reasons for thanksgiving. This is where our Old Testament Reading opens a door. The Book of Wisdom was written a bare half-century before the birth of Christ. Even then, the hope of a personal Messiah arriving, born into the royal line of King David, seemed remote and far away. For the author, the only way in which God might enter this world was by his Wisdom. So, today’s OT Reading shows how God created the world by Wisdom — and how he continues to rule the world by it.

I. Now, what does this divine Wisdom look like? Here, the Catechism of our Church helps us. Paragraph 302 teaches us that God guides his creation toward the perfection that he has always planned for it. This means that even massive issues, like climate change, are under God’s control. His perfect plan for this beautiful but broken planet of ours cannot be derailed. That is why Psalm 135 (v. 6) tells us that “Our God is in heaven and does whatever he wills.” His plan is perfect — and that perfect plan includes you!

II. Yet God, in his Wisdom remembers the little things of creation, too. He cares not only for the great events of the world and its history, but also for the least things on our planet. For example, let me share one of my favourite Bible verses to prove my point. It is found in the fifth book of the Old Testament, the book of Deuteronomy. Here, we have a lovely, little verse embedded in the heart of God’s law code for the People of Israel: “If you come on a bird’s nest, in any tree or on the ground, with fledglings or eggs, with the mother sitting on the fledglings or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young” (Deu 22:6).

In other words, when an ancient Israelite was foraging for food (perhaps the family was close to starvation), if he or she found a mother bird that risked her life to stay on her nest, she was to be protected! Her eggs or the little chicks could be taken, but the mother was protected. Think for a moment: in the Old Testament Law, there is a precept protecting even mother birds.

III. Also, God cares about you —which is my third point. God longs to flood you with his Wisdom, with his fatherly protection. Notice how our First Reading ends: “All good things came to me along with [Wisdom], and in her hands uncounted wealth.” The Book of Wisdom provides us with a checklist, to deepen our spiritual thanksgiving today. Please look at your Sunday Missal or missalette; see what the Book actually says:

– If you will pray, God will pour out on you his spirit of Wisdom.

– This Wisdom is of greater value to you than a sceptre and a throne.

– Wisdom is more priceless than any precious gem.

– All the gold of the world is like a little sand compared to her.

– In the eyes of Wisdom, heaps of silver are like mud.

– She is more precious than your health and your looks (your beauty).

– She is more desirable than light, even in a dark cave.

– God’s Wisdom never sleeps in her care of you.

– She gathers all of us (including at this mass) into her company.

– And countless riches are in her hands.

Let us give thanks today most of all for the blessings of God’s Wisdom — Wisdom that is poured out to overflowing onto you and to me!