Thanksgiving - Why do Catholics go so light (per worship) on this American holiday?

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American Thanksgiving Day is, per its name, a day to pause and thank God for the nation’s blessings (background below). While it might be considered a Protestant holiday per its beginnings, or a semi-secular holiday per its official status as a national holiday – Catholics throughout the USA celebrate it.

But in Catholic Churches … officially … not so much.

Q: Does it seem to anyone else that Catholics (or the Church in the US) do LESS on Thanksgiving Day than we could per public witness?

Q2: Are there any Catholic dioceses that have large Thanksgiving masses on a par with Christmas or Easter? If not … it may IMO be a good idea. 😇

There is no “Thanksgiving liturgy,” though thanksgiving IS an ongoing theme throughout the liturgical year(s). If you go to mass on that day, there very well might be mention of “thanksgiving” in the priest’s homily of the day.

But there are LESS masses said on that day, in the aggregate, than on most other regular weekdays! Doubtless this is due to the sentiment that priests too ought to be able to visit their families and have a day of relative rest (per the rationale – which I don’t oppose at all) – but there is the unfortunate side effect that the very one we are giving thanks TO … is taken a vacation FROM … so to speak … in the paucity of masses said on that day.

Table graces notwithstanding … do even devout weekday mass going Catholics do a little LESS thanksgiving ON Thanksgiving Day than on their usual daily mass habit days … that are interrupted by fewer mass options than usual at their parishes?

Every so often I have woken up Thanksgiving Day morning and thought … “I have the day off. It’s Thanksgiving. I’ll go to MASS today!”

But it’s after 9 am. Not a MAJOR sleep in on a holiday … but … I’d find that there was no evening mass that day (in the churches where there usually were) … and that all the masses at any other church in my Diocese of over 1 million Catholics were pretty much OVER by 9 am.

I know. THIS year I can take all that into account and make an “early morning” effort to thank the Lord instead of just starting (what can look like) a b****y pointless criticism of the Church and its (possibly unofficial) largesse to its hardworking priests on a day when they might visit their families. And maybe plant the seed in your minds too. 😉

Actually … my Christmas Day sleep ins have sometimes caused me to frantically search for masses I could go to (on what THEN is a Holy Day of obligation for Catholics, and not just a “nice idea” on a semi-secular/Protestant originated holiday.*
 
Addendum and background to post 1:
  • Giving thanks to God for a bounteous harvest is not of course an un-Catholic idea, and was probably done many years before there were Protestant denominations. Come to think of it, humanly, it may go back to Cain and Abel (with some doing IT better than others, and sometimes resulting in a family fight). 😱
Thanksgiving in History

In the United States, for many years now, Thanksgiving Day is celebrated (or observed) on the fourth Thursday of November. Legend has it that the tradition of a formal, set aside, day of feasting and giving thanks to our creator began the autumn following the Puritan pilgrims’ first bounteous harvest in the New World (present day Massachusetts) after losing many of their number in the transatlantic voyage over, and that first harsh year of their emigration.

That first Thanksgiving was attended by invited native American neighbors who had helped the pilgrims (and vice versa) through trade, agricultural and hunting strategies and alliances against hostile enemies.

Religiously the “pilgrim” Puritans were the hosts.

During the Civil War, President Lincoln formalized the day as a national holiday. Later, FDR changed the day of celebration to its present date to accommodate an expanded shopping season between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
 
I wouldn’t put it on par with Christmas or Easter precisely because it is a secular/Protestant holiday. For us, everyday should be one of thanksgiving (i.e., Eucharist).

There is a votive Mass for both the “Harvest” and “Giving Thanks to God” — and if I recall, there’s a special blessing, too, though it’s not listed in my books here.

I understand your point, though. I was disappointed to see the parishes in my area canceling Masses this week (especially on Thursday and Friday). We have some elderly folks who have been daily Mass attenders all of their lives… (btw, the number of priests is not an issue, tho I’m not saying they don’t deserve time off, too)
 
There are usually one or two Masses on Thanksgiving Day and then the priest takes the rest of the day off. I figure he needs a rest break and besides he’d probably like to eat a dinner and watch parades or football just like the rest of us. Why make him knock himself out to work a bunch of big Masses on a day that is not historically a Catholic religious holiday?
 
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My thinking there was, why not have ONE big Diocesan Mass at a somewhat convenient hour (11 am? Noon?) as a public witness that Catholics too, give thanks to God … and for a nation that gives thanks to God. Most priests could still “have more time with their families” or have a holiday rest – but God would get a bit of deserved public worship in addition to the private family table graces, etc.

I do remember taking part in a family rosary on Thanksgiving once. It was not with my immediate family, but with my sisters’ in-laws … who’d just lost a loved one (grandparent). That was an unusual Thanksgiving … but one in which prayer actually surpassed food and football as the day’s focus and rememberable moment.
 
CaptFun said:
But in Catholic Churches … officially … not so much.

Q: Does it seem to anyone else that Catholics (or the Church in the US) do LESS on Thanksgiving Day than we could per public witness?
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There is no set Thanksgiving liturgy in the Catholic Church- as the date moves. I guess that one could be established.

I think back in the day- 50 years ago- mass attendance was a lot higher on Saturday morning that it is today. A lot of people have off that day too
 
When you live in a diocese that is the whole state, this idea makes less sense. We have one Mass at our parish in the morning. It gives the priest the rest of the day off to enjoy.

As this is the non-Catholic forum, how many protestant church have a Thanksgiving service?
 
That wouldn’t do us much good around here. Our Archdiocese is large enough that most people wouldn’t reasonably be able to make the trip and return home for family gatherings on what is already one of the busiest travel days of the year. Besides, the only time we have one big diocesan Mass is the Chrism Mass or a particularly rare occasion. Such a thing here would be more of a show for others rather than worship opportunity for the faithful.

From past experience, Thanksgiving Day Mass draws a smaller crowd than even mid-week/mid-day Holy Days, so I can understand the cancellations. I agree – thanks begins with God, but I don’t think the practicalities are going to change to facilitate more celebrations on this particular day.
 
Horton said:
When you live in a diocese that is the whole state, this idea makes less sense. We have one Mass at our parish in the morning. It gives the priest the rest of the day off to enjoy.

As this is the non-Catholic forum, how many protestant church have a Thanksgiving service?
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Right – in our diocese, having one diocesan Mass would involve a LOT of driving, along with all the other Thanksgiving Day work. Our parish has one Mass at 0830, and it is not all that well attended. As for Protestant Thanksgiving Day services, they do exist but they are not all that common.

D
 
A lot of priests, doing a BUNCH of big masses is not what I had in mind there.

Imagined maybe the Bishop, Cardinal or whatever doing ONE big diocesan mass at a large venue (in my area it might be Anaheim Stadium, say) perhaps coordinating it with (and like) the many parish St. Joseph’s tables and meals for the poor that go on apart from masses.

We Catholics have the numbers (especially when visible in those occasional Papal outdoor masses) to attract the media … and thus spread the gospel through the public worship. It’s Ecumenical too … even if it were also a day to reflect upon Catholic contributions to America as part of what we are thankful for.

Here in Orange County, California there is a little known place called Christianizes Creek, part of the Camp Pendleton lands … where Catholic missionaries first baptized natives in what is now California (and the United States). As it predated there even being a United States (at that time there were just English colonies on the North Amarican East Coast.

I always thought calling attention to Christianitos, or possibly being allowed to build a Catholic Church there (for the many Catholic marine families there … but open to the local public) would be a nice idea.

An outdoor mass of “pilgrimage” to that historic California (and Catholic) on Thanksgiving Day (or even otherwise … like the anniversary of those first baptisms in the creek by the missionaries) … could be a celebration that West Coast Americans could all enjoy. That western native Americans were also welcomed to God’s table by the pilgrims from Spain (or in St. Junipero Serra’s case, the Balearic Island of Mallorca).

I don’t think many think of Catholics as being Thanksgiving spoilsports deliberately minimizing Thanksgiving as a Protestant or Secular or National Day that is … un-Catholic, if in no wise anti-Catholic. But there is an Ecumenical opportunity here that could help draw peoples closer to one another in the name of God and our common thanks to Him (and each other).

The Catholic Church can sometimes LOOK to outsiders (and insiders!) as sort of an exclusive club … as opposed to the Christ founded “go and teach (and baptise) all nations …” all inclusive family that it was ordained to be.

Suffice it to say “we” can do Thanksgiving better. 😊 On an individual basis, I probably will this year (per prayer anyway).

The lack of available masses may lead to more Rocky Catholics (referring to a Catholic in a movie that referenced Thanksgiving in it).

Rocky Balboa tried to ask out his intended love interest (Adrianne) at her home (and that of her brother Pauly, Rocky’s friend) on Thanksgiving Day.

Adrianne: (who in opposition to “going out” was trying to make a family dinner): But … it’s Thanksgiving!

Rocky: To YOU … maybe. To ME … it’s … like … Thursday.
 
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Christianitos Creek! Twice my spell checker changed that to Christianizes … THREE times including this correction attempt.

Lol … above post also replaced my adjective predated with preheated! Finally figured out how to edit my posts with the “new” to me icons. I’ve posted less lately than I used to and Catholic Answers has changed these pages from a formula I was familiar with. Mea culpa. Per spellchecker …

😬 - love is patient … love is kind … grrr.
 
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I’d honestly rather see this type of effort being put in for an established Catholic holy day than trying to make a Protestant holiday turned secular into a Catholic religious major feast.

We can and should be thanking God every day.
As for feeding the poor, the vast majority of charities including Catholic ones put in a lot of effort to do that around this holiday, and staging some giant Mass as opposed to our normal small daily Masses is just going to add to the obligations and responsibilities of those involved. We are also coming up on Advent which is going to be a lot of work for priests and laity involved in ministries, and some churches are already starting their preparations for that now (giving trees, etc). And there are the issues with people’s travel time, family time, etc that we already discussed on the thread.

I’m also not sure what the point is of a giant splashy Mass. The small daily Masses are also Mass and every bit as spiritual as some giant Mass in a cathedral. I don’t like the idea of having a big Mass on some non-religious day as a “look at us” kind of megachurch gesture. We can thank God just fine at the Parish Mass that the priest must say anyway to fulfill his daily Mass obligation.
 
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The Jewish Feast of Sukkot used to be sort of the Ancient Hebrew Thanksgiving-equivalent. It can also be called the Feast of Ingathering, the Feast of Tabernacles, or the Feast of Booths.

I had read somewhere that some of the OT feasts and celebrations that were observed in the OT had kinda/sorta parallels in the Christian calendar. Like how their Passover morphed into our Triduum-and-Easter and their experience of the Exodus was a precursor to Christ’s redemption of humanity; or how the Festival of Weeks, which celebrates the giving of the Torah, has a parallel to our Pentecost, which celebrates the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. And so on.

So, if you look at your Feast of Tabernacles/Booths/Ingathering, you’ve got your Feast of Harvest Time, but you also have your element of We-Remember-Those-Days-When-We-Were-Wandering-That-Darned-Desert-For-Forty-Years.

There’s an interesting blog article about how Christ has fulfilled the promise in the Feast of Booths. It wraps up with a nice little summary:
Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of all that the Feast of Tabernacles promises. He is our Sukkah, our shelter; He is our water, our salvific baptismal water; He is our light, our illuminated path to the Father. Sukkot, also known as the Feast of Booths, the Feast of Tabernacles, and the Feast of Ingathering makes God’s plan completely known to man. In all ways, Christ is truly the fulfillment as He has tabernacled Himself among us and has provided us with a safe haven for our eternal life. Of all holidays that the Lord calls His people to celebrate, this Feast of Ingathering is the most significant because it says to us Gentiles that we, too, belong to Him. When Christ makes His return to gather the final harvest, we will find that we, too, are His fruit.
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So, it kind of sums up the point that some posters above have made— we don’t have a designated liturgical Thanksgiving holiday, mostly because we give Thanksgiving to God for x, y, and z at every Mass.
 
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We have Mass every day inc Thanksgiving. On Thanksgiving, Mass may be at the regular time (8am) or a different time. But we do have it. We have a priest who comes in each year on Thanksgiving so that our priests can have the day off. He fills in for the priests at several parishes. So his day is quite full.😃
 
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CaptFun said:
able graces notwithstanding … do even devout weekday mass going Catholics do a little LESS thanksgiving ON Thanksgiving Day than on their usual daily mass habit days … that are interrupted by fewer mass options than usual at their parishes?

Every so often I have woken up Thanksgiving Day morning and thought … “I have the day off. It’s Thanksgiving. I’ll go to MASS today!”

But it’s after 9 am. Not a MAJOR sleep in on a holiday … but … I’d find that there was no evening mass that day (in the churches where there usually were) … and that all the masses at any other church in my Diocese of over 1 million Catholics were pretty much OVER by 9 am.

I know. THIS year I can take all that into account and make an “early morning” effort to thank the Lord instead of just starting (what can look like) a b****y pointless criticism of the Church and its (possibly unofficial) largesse to its hardworking priests on a day when they might visit th
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Most bishops are NOT from the diocese they are assigned to. I’ve never asked a bishop before, but I would NOT be surprised to learn that a number of them fly home to visit with their siblings, nieces, nephews, etc for Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is the only one of the big 4 American Holidays (Christmas, Easter, New Years, & Thanksgiving) where the Bishop does not have Liturgical responsibilities. And unlike most of his priests, the Bishop’s family most likely isn’t local.

So let’s not take that holiday away from Bishops as an opportunity for them to travel home.

God Bless
 
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Thanksgiving is a uniquely American holiday and the Church in the United States is comprised of a lot of immingrants and their children for whom the holiday might not be a big deal. I just wanted to say that in addition to what others have said that it is also a Protestant/secular holiday.
 
redbetta said:
I just wanted to say that in addition to what others have said that it is also a Protestant/secular holiday.
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I’ve noticed a few people calling Thanksgiving a “protestant” holiday, but I would like to say that it really isn’t. It is secular, but was may ACTUALLY inspired by Catholic Native Americans that the Pilgrims encountered!

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/blog/saint-squanto-a-catholic-thanksgiving-hero


http://taylormarshall.com/tag/thanksgiving




http://www.catholicworldreport.com/2015/11/25/the-catholic-origins-of-thanksgiving/



God Bless
 
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Tis_Bearself said:
I’d honestly rather see this type of effort being put in for an established Catholic holy day than trying to make a Protestant holiday turned secular into a Catholic religious major feast.
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Actually, we already have one… The Feast of Corpus Christi.

This is a feast that we Catholics should be focusing on making into a bigger deal, by taking the day off, going to Mass, participating in Eucharistic processions, etc.
 
We have a small rural parish, the priest offers a Thanksgiving-eve Mass as well as a Thanksgiving Day mass in the morning. Neither will be overly attended, but he wants to make sure that everybody who would like to attend one has the chance. His second parish (the shortage gives him two rural parishes) is even smaller, but he usually drives the thirty miles to celebrate a Mass on most holidays like that.

Pax
 
The Holy Eucharist is all the thanksgiving that we need. Check the etymology of the word “Eucharist.”
 
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