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James Martin, S.J.November 23, 2011

A Thanksgiving Prayer

Loving God,
who created and sustains the universe,
who loved us all into being,
and who gives us every good thing,
we thank you for the blessings
that you bring into our lives.
 
We thank you for the gift of life itself,
which you gave us in our mothers' wombs.
We thank you for the fresh start of each new day,
which is a sign of your renewing and creative love.
And we thank you for our friends, our families,
our neighbors and our coworkers,
whose human love is an image
of your divine care.
 
Increase our gratitude this Thanksgiving Day,
and help us to recognize all the good things
that we have, both large and small.
And magnify our desire to share
what we have with others,
so that they too may be
grateful to you,
Loving God. 
 

Best wishes for a blessed Thanksgiving from the editors and staff at America magazine. 

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david power
13 years ago
What a beautiful prayer!
Who wrote it? 
The Ignatian aspects are clear and it is almost a summa of
what St Ignatius taught.From gratitude to discernment it is all there.  
Jim McCrea
13 years ago
And, to keep a firm grasp on reality, remember that the Pilgrims were the first European illegal immigrants on these shores.
david power
13 years ago
Jim,

You bad boy!The Indians did not have the concept of illegal and so the pilgrims were not "illegal".You need to go and watch a bunch of John Wayne movies before you even think of commenting again.
I have a brother in New York who has lived there illegally for 12 years and all he has  to show for it is a Woody Allen accent.
I suppose we could give thanks for Nu Yoik accents as well.   
David Fulton
13 years ago
Nice prayer!

But, as Sister Mary Clement taught me in her class of 102 fifth-grade students, relative pronouns agree with their antecedents in person and number (but not in case).  Thus ''sustains'' should be ''sustain,'' and ''gives'' should be ''give.''
david power
13 years ago
@David Smith,

I think he has eked out a life there but he is far from swanning around central park.He is more of a Kramer than a Seinfeld.But I understand your point"the grass is always greener in central park " ,right?.

@Fr Martin,

Thanks for the clarificiation.
Compliments for writing it and putting so succintly and warmly the Ignatian spirit.   

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