Giving Thanks for Christ the King!

Everyone wants to know, what's Thanksgiving like with the nuns?

Okay, so maybe not everyone wants to know, but some of you do, right?

Well, Thanksgiving with the nuns is very enjoyable, and maybe not too unlike your Thanksgivings. We eat alot, then eat some more, rest and watch TV, pray, and then eat again.

My sister Janet shared the experience with me which I was very grateful for. It brought a little bit of home to my new home! She also brought some of the "Polish" foods which are tradition for us, though we're pretty sure even though the Polish cookbook says it's Polish, cauliflower with cornflakes melted on top is kind of universal. Or maybe not. What do I know about cooking?

Though everyone had to contribute and make a dish and I was asked to make the stuffing. Not from scratch, mind you, because Jesus loves me and knows me! He and Sr. Agnes were merciful and let me make it from a box. And turned out very well, I must say!

So we began our morning with Mass and prayer as always. And it's nice because even thought Thanksgiving isn't technically a religious holiday (you can argue about that, though...why did the pilgrims come here after all? religious freedom!) being with the Sisters made it a religious feast and I felt that I was able to give thanks to God all day- as it should be!

And it made me think- every day should be Thanksgiving where we just give thanks to Him all day! I mean, Eucharist means "thanksgiving" in Greek and I receive the Eucharist each day in Mass. Every day can be Thanksgiving!

The Eucharistic table is our 'feast' and Jesus gives us many 'feasts' in His own way. With family, friends, His Word, His Church, His Sacraments.

Okay, enough preaching.

So we prayed, then we cooked and got ready. Janet came over a little before 1pm. We ate around 1ish. And just had a leisurely table conversation about Thanksgiving traditions. Janet and I noted that it is tradition in our family to have "Blue Nun" wine at the table (which I never liked, btw- too sweet!) and now we were sitting at a table of Blue Nuns!!!

The highlight of the day was Sr. Agnes gracing us with her "Turkey Song". A song she learned when she first came over from Italy and barely new English. It's pretty amazing that she remembers it! But once you hear it, you will know, 'how could you forget it?' We have it on video documented ;)

Janet hung out for a while and we called the fam on her cell and they passed the phone around to each person twice- once to talk to her and then to me. She left before our evening prayer and then after evening prayer we (too full from the afternoon) made some popcorn and played "Apples to Apples" as a community.

That game is hilarious anyways. But when you play with nuns its even funnier. And then when you play with 2 70+year old nuns with English as their second language- forget it. It's hysterical.

So I have much to be thankful for. You reading this blog just to name one! I got sick the day after Thanksgiving- too much fun, I tell you! So I am recovering from a bad cold that knocked me out for the weekend.

But today is the feast of Christ the King!!! And that means next Sunday starts ADVENT??? I can't wait! HA- and the irony of that IS that Advent is all about WAITING ;)

Today is a pretty great FEAST in itself, speaking of feasts. And one of the great things we've learned so far here in our formation classes is that we have a KING who uses His power to empower the powerless. Take the Gospel for today- it is Jesus on the Cross, dying for us. The soliders are taunting Him. The sign INRI above Him is meant to mock Him- but the Truth is, that is OUR KING! He, the suffering servant, is our KING. And that is the beauty of our faith. That our King makes Himself powerless to save us. As a good King should!!!

Thank You, Jesus!!!

God bless you all! Enjoy the FEAST! And let the waiting begin ;)

Peace,
Julia