How Shall We Give Thanks to God?

It’s a typical question around Thanksgiving. “How should we thank God?” God who needs nothing has given us everything as we pray in the Divine Liturgy, “You have brought all things out of nothing into being.” How can we possibly give thanks to God, presuming of course, that we want to give thanks to Him in the first place?

Our ancient Holy Tradition has given us a clear understanding of how we should give thanks to God. We thank Him by making an offering to Him in worship. Cain & Abel, Noah after the Flood, Abraham after He rescued Lot and again after He promised life; these are all ancient examples of how, long before God established the Law with Moses, human beings expressed their gratitude to God. In fact the Thanksgiving Offering, which for us Christians is the Eucharist, is considered a communal experience between the he who offers and He who receives. It was believed in the ancient times that when offering a burnt offering to God on the Altar, God received the “burnt parts” while sharing the “cooked parts” with the person making the offering. This is why we say in the Divine Liturgy, “For You, Christ our God, are the Offerer and the Offered, the One who receives and is distributed.”

In the ancient world offerings were of many sorts; wine, oil, bread, wheat, animals, incense, and even money. These each represented an offering equal to our labor. For instance, Cain “brought a sacrifice to the Lord from the fruits of the ground,” (Genesis 4.3) representing the fruit of his labor. His brother Abel did the same, but from his flock of sheep. What represents the fruit of our labor? For most of us today, our money represents the fruits of our labor, but offering money is also nothing new. When Abraham wanted to thank God for saving his nephew Lot, he, “gave him a tithe of all.” (Genesis 14.20)

As Greek Orthodox Christians and especially as Americans, we have much to give thanks to God. We begin by coming to worship, most especially the Sunday Divine Liturgy ON TIME, and participating fully in the service by preparing for and receiving Holy Communion. Then we make our offering to God, which should represent not only our labor but the level of our thanks. The more we have to be thankful for, the more we should thank God. And when the offering is from our heart, as it was from Abel, the Lord will respect it. (Genesis 4.4)

Dear St. Nicholas Cathedral Family,

Today we will be talking about the feast day that is celebrated on February 2nd of every year, the Presentation of Christ to the Temple. The story of the Presentation is told in Luke 2:22-29. Mary and Joseph were faithful Jews and observed their religious customs. An important custom was for the couple to take their first-born son to the Temple. The baby was taken to the Temple forty days after his birth and was dedicated to God. In addition, if the parents were wealthy, they were to bring a lamb and a young pigeon or a turtle dove to be offered as a sacrifice at the Temple. The custom provided that if the parents were poor, they were to offer two pigeons or two turtle doves for the sacrifice. Joseph and Mary were not wealthy, so they took two turtle doves with them to offer as a sacrifice at the Temple.As they arrived at the Temple, Mary and Joseph were met by a very old man named Simeon. He was a holy man and was noted as a very intelligent scholar. Simeon spent much time studying about the prophets of Israel. It was during his studies that he learned of the coming of the Messiah. The Jewish people were waiting for the Messiah to come and deliver Israel from their conquerors. From that time on, Simeon spent his time praying for the Messiah to come. He spent many years in prayer. Finally, while Simeon was praying he heard the voice of God. God promised Simeon that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah.

When Simeon saw Jesus, he took the baby in his arms and blessed the Lord and said: "Lord, now let Your servant go in peace according to Your promise, because my eyes have seen Your salvation which you have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory to your people Israel." Also, in the Temple was Anna the Prophetess. She had been a widow for many years. Anna was about eighty-four years old and spent her time in the Temple worshiping, fasting, and praying. When she saw the Christ Child she praised God and spoke of him to all who were awaiting the Messiah. After Jesus was presented in the Temple, the family returned to Galilee to the town of Nazareth. The Bible tells us that Jesus grew and became strong, and was filled with wisdom.

The celebration of the Meeting of the Lord in the church is not merely a historical commemoration. Inspired by the same Holy Spirit as Simeon, and led by the same Spirit into the Church of the Messiah, the members of the Church also can claim their own “meeting” with the Lord, and so also can witness that they too can “depart in peace” since their eyes have seen the salvation of God in the person of his Christ.We commemorate this moment as well in the service of the 40 day blessing of our Children.

With Love in the Lord,

With Love in the Lord,

+Fr. Sampson N. Kasapakis

Memorials

8:15AM Divine Liturgy (Greek)

ARTEMIS (ANDRIOTIS) KOTIS - 40 DAYS

PANTELIS KROUSKOS - 40 DAYS

 THEMELINA KARVOUONIS - 5 YEARS

 NICHOLAS GEORGION, JR - 8 YEARS

 11:00AM Divine Liturgy (English)

 MIKE N KOULIAS - 40 DAYS

 PETER HAGILOSTAS - 40 DAYS

 PALERIMOTIS KOULIANOS - 58 YEARS