100 Thanks 2021
1. The gift of my priesthood
2. The gift of being able to offer the Divine Sacrifice of the Mass
3. The gift of being able to absolve sins in the Sacrament of Reconciliation and liberate the children of God from their sins
4. The gift of being absolved of my sins when I, as a penitent, go to Confession
5. The grace of feeling God’s mercy and forgiveness
6. Long confession lines
7. Spending those last precious moments with a soul that is getting ready to depart this world and return to the house of the Father
8. Welcoming a new soul into the Body of Christ through the Sacrament of Baptism
9. Witnessing the union of two souls in the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony
10. When those two souls come back every year on their anniversary to renew their marriage vows
11. When the church fills up with people at a Healing Mass longing to receive the Anointing of the Sick
12. When the church fills up with people for any reason!
(I usually am so focused on Thanksgiving that I rarely give thanks for Christmas blessings, so…)
13. The silence and stillness that comes with Advent
14. When I sit in my chapel on the vigil of the First Sunday of Advent and let that silence help me enter into the Advent season
15. After sitting in that silence, listening to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir’s rendition of “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.”
16. The “O Antiphons”
17. The almost four hours I spent hearing confession during last year’s Advent penance service
18. The yearly blessing of the outdoor Nativity Scene
19. The dozens and dozens of cars that stop along Anastasia Avenue every day to take in and take pictures of our Nativity Scene
20. The wonder in the eyes of children when they behold the Nativity
21. The prayers of our Blessed Mother and her most chaste spouse, St. Joseph
22. The Christmas Eve Children’s Vigil Mass and all the lost sheep who come home that evening
23. The Children’s Choir singing during that Mass
24. The peace that comes with Midnight Mass
25. The Gloria sung at Midnight Mass
26. The Gloria sung at the Easter Vigil
27. The blessed exhaustion that sets in after Christmas
28. The blessed exhaustion that sets in after the Holy Triduum
29. The Holy Thursday Altar of Repose
30. Being able to deliver a “children’s homily” last Sunday for the first time in 20 months
31. Learning so much from the insights of children; God’s little ones
32. St. Therese’s Little Way
33. “What do you want to be when you grow up?” “A saint!”
34. Seeing smiles again: a window to the Divine!
35. The prayers of the Carmelite Sisters
36. Psalm 62
37. St. Teresa of Avila’s Serenity Prayer: “Nada te turbe, nada te espante…”
38. Having a youth group again and a young adult group too
39. Holy Water
40. Perpetual Adoration
41. Anyone kneeling in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
42. That rare occasion when this restless heart is satisfied with a homily
43. Reminders from the Holy Spirit that come in the form of parishioners who thank me for a powerful homily when I think it was “meh”
44. When my heart rate at the end of homily is the equivalent or more than the heart rate of my best friend running a marathon
45. Good sacred music at Mass
46. That post-Communion Meditation Song
47. The silence after the post-Communion Meditation Song
48. The children singing Therese’s “Canticle of Love” on her Feast Day
49. “Diggin’ deeper, getting more” into the Scriptures and saying things I couldn’t say during a Sunday homily on, of all things, a podcast!
50. Finely produced bumper music
51. Thanksgiving lists from 8th graders and Kindergarteners
52. “Peel Greens” (say if fast five times and you’ll know what a five-year-old is trying to say)
53. The depth of this year’s 8th grade lists
54. The early adolescent silliness in most of the lists
55. For yearbooks that help add a name to a face (there’s over 80 of them!)
56. Getting up in front of a classroom full of children again and not windows on a computer screen
57. Having sports on our school fields again and hearing parents cheering a goal, even if they’re from another school
58. Staging a musical two years in the making with students and alumni
59. Strolling by rehearsals on a Friday afternoon (and subtly teaching a Beast to dance)
60. Watching teachers pull off the impossible
61. For the heroism, patience, and joy of our teachers
62. And the heroism of everyone on the front lines
63. For delivery drivers and truckers
64. For the Marines who let me crash their birthday party every year
65. All the men and women in the Armed Forces
66. Out of the blue texts, or better yet, phone calls from former students
67. A cancer bell being rung
68. A powerful shower that isn’t “low-flow”
69. Empty inboxes
70. Kraft Macaroni and Cheese
71. Cafeteria cookies and the people who make them
72. Ice spheres vs. ice chips
73. Godchildren
74. An incredible staff
75. “Do you have a best friend?” “Yes” “Is he smarter than you?” “Yes”
76. Shibboleth
77. Ted Lasso
78. “You know what the happiest animal in the world is? It’s a goldfish. It’s got a 10 second memory. Be a goldfish.”
79. Applying that quote to the spiritual life especially when it comes to sins we’ve committed and people we’ve wronged or have wronged us
80. Roy Kent’s “never settle in love speech” that is NSFTL (not suitable for this list), but I want to scream it to everyone who has ever settled in love
81. Baseball in the corn fields of Iowa
82. ARM ministry
83. Stimulus Mondays
84. “Uber rides” and the conversations that stem from them
85. Giant inflatable water slides that go into the deep end of the pool
86. The becoming too rare Friday nights when the Backyard Crew is back in session (and the personal triumphs of said crew this year)
87. Tall white bell towers
88. The thought of New York City and Rome
89. Refuge on a not-too-distant island where the door is always open
90. The Pitching Wedge (also an effective prop during the Cleansing of the Temple homily)
91. That elusive birdie
92. That 12-foot putt that I drained last week on the last hole
93. That elusive redfish
94. Sunsets in the Keys
95. The sun rising behind my church
96. Karaoke nights in Comber Hall
97. Paciencia y fe
98. My godmother and her immaculate timing when it comes to knowing that I need her
99. My childhood best friend who still gets in my face to tell me truths I need to hear
100. Memories of my brother
101. My 16-year-old nephew finally playing football like his father
102. My 13-year-old nephew about to go to Columbus like his uncle (the other uncle)
103. My 9-year-old nephew teaching me lessons I never knew I needed
104. My father still teaching me after 46 years (thankfully) and passing on his wisdom
105. My sister still passionate in ways that I could only dream of
106. My brother-in-law being the St. Joseph of his family
107. My mother praying the rosary for me daily
108. My godson in Cuba, whom I had never met, finally making it to the United States to live in freedom, but just as important, that I was finally able to embrace him (Patria y Vida!)
109. My cousins and that we’re doing Thanksgiving right this year
110. That it took me longer than usual to write this list this year, but it allowed me to spend pretty much a whole day reflecting on all the things that I am so very grateful for this Thanksgiving.
Happy Thanksgiving!
