• Home
  • Diocese
  • Bishop Burns
  • Columnists
  • Pope Francis
  • Revista Catolica
  • Subscribe
The Texas Catholic
The Texas Catholic

Dallas, Texas

Today is Tuesday, January 26, 2021
  • Home
  • Diocese
  • Bishop Burns
  • Columnists
  • Pope Francis
  • Revista Catolica
  • Subscribe
  • Follow
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
Home
Father Roch Kereszty

Thanksgiving: returning stolen goods

Sunday, November 24, 2013

A chalice and host are seen in a Thanksgiving display. The holiday, celebrated Nov. 28, commemorates the Pilgrim’s celebration of a good harvest in 1621.

By Father Roch Kereszty
Special to The Texas Catholic

Most of us would never think of stealing someone else’s  property. We would never want to sink that low. Yet all of us, at one time or another if not habitually, steal from God—and we are hardly ever aware of it. This, of course, needs some explanation: God does not stop showering upon us his most precious gifts, but upon every gift package he has put a label: RETURN TO OWNER BEFORE USE. You may wonder what this oxymoron means. How can I use the gift if I have to return it before using it? This does not seem to make any sense.

Here is what I have in mind. God’s gifts are the many different talents I have received:  material, intellectual, spiritual, and ultimately my very self.  Returning them to him before using them means that  I acknowledge in thanksgiving all that  I have received from God.

My thanksgiving is sincere if I give them back to God and learn to use them as he wishes me to. I tell him: “Lord you have given me my life, health, intelligence; my spouse, my children, my friends, my country; in fact, the entire world. I want to love you so much that I give you back all that I have, all that I am; I want to receive them only from you again if you so decide.” Some people may think this is an absurd mental game; for us Christians, and for all who believe in a loving God, on the other hand, this is a simple recognition of reality: I return the goods in my possession to their legitimate owner. Besides, this prayer brings me joy and peace. If I receive everything from God’s hands every day, they become more precious to me with time.

God cannot be outdone in generosity. His response may be verbalized in words like these: “You gave me, or at least you tried to give me, all that you have and all that you are. It is true that at times, for your good, I take away a few things to which you are very much attached. But in addition to yourself, I return to you someone infinitely greater than you are: my son. He will teach you how to be truly grateful and how to really offer yourself to me, because he will unite your offering to his infinite love and thanksgiving.”

But one word of caution is in order: our thanksgiving can easily become vitiated. The Pharisee also gives thanks.  He thanks God not for his gifts, but for not being so low and wicked as the rest of humankind. In other words, he rejoices because everyone else but himself is evil.  But before we throw the first stone upon the Pharisee, we should ask ourselves: Did I ever think about a person in such terms as, “I am, of course, no saint, but I am glad that  I am not that bad as this acquaintance of mine?” By saying this, I reveal my perverse joy over evil: “There is at least one person worse than I am.”

If I find someone truly low and wicked, I should rather tell God: “Lord, have mercy on him as you had mercy on me. You led me and constantly lead me back to repentance and new life; please do the same to him. He is also your child and my brother.” God loves this kind of prayer, and listens to it: if earthly fathers appreciate when one sibling asks a favor not for himself but for another sibling, how much more does God the Father?
Through such a prayer our thanksgiving will be purified and become most pleasing to our father in heaven.

Father Roch Kereszty, O.Cist., is a theologian and monk at the Cistercian Abbey of Our Lady of Dallas in Irving. His column will appear occasionally in The Texas Catholic.

  • Tags
  • Catholic Diocese of Dallas
  • Dallas Catholic Diocese
  • Father Roch Kereszty
  • The Texas Catholic
Facebook Twitter Google+ LinkedIn Pinterest
Next article The Catholic Foundation awards $792,000 in grants
Previous article Diocese of Dallas to take part in the Synod Survey

Related Posts

Father Bayer: 'Can the Church save marriage?' Columnists
Friday, January 22, 2021

Father Bayer: 'Can the Church save marriage?'

The Catholic Foundation: Rising to meet the needs of the faithful Guest Columnists
Wednesday, January 20, 2021

The Catholic Foundation: Rising to meet the needs of the faithful

Father Dankasa: Creating a Spiritual Plan for our Everyday Life Columnists
Saturday, January 9, 2021

Father Dankasa: Creating a Spiritual Plan for our Everyday Life

Texas Catholic Classics

A look at the five Dallas law enforcement officers who gave their lives while protecting citizens during a mass shooting in downtown Dallas in July 2016.

 

How a child with special needs inspired a high school volleyball team, community and a family who heeded God’s call to protect life.

 

After a young runner collapsed at a Dallas marathon, grace and providence unfolded for those involved in the valiant effort to help her.

   

In the summer of 2016, 50 students and 25 chaperones from Dallas Catholic high schools traveled to Nicaragua for a 10-day mission trip.

 

Early on a November morning, Kenndrick Mendieta bounded from the gym at Cristo Rey Dallas College Prep toward the campus’ athletic fields as clouds lifted on a fresh new day.

 

Subscribe

Get the award-winning Texas Catholic delivered to your door. Use the menu below to subscribe now.


Subscription length




 

Photo Gallery

Click here to find your favorite Texas Catholic photographs.

The Texas Catholic Newspaper

Catholic Diocese of Dallas
David Sedeno, Editor

3725 Blackburn Street
Dallas, Texas 75219
(214) 379-2800

Our Affiliated Sites

Texas Catholic Youth

Revista Católica

Legal and Other

Contact us

Terms of service

Privacy policy

Site map

Site powered by TexasCatholicMedia

© 2013-2019 The Texas Catholic Publishing Company. All rights reserved.