In every Mass the Preface dialogue ends with “Let us give thanks to the Lord, our God,” to which we respond, “It is right and just.” Nearly every Preface begins, “It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere to give you thanks, Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God.”
Always and everywhere to give thanks seems to imply not just at Mass, or on a national holiday. To give thanks is “our duty and our salvation” and it is “right and just.”
John Henry Cardinal Newman’s Meditations for Advent and Christmas were recently quoted in the October Magnificat. “It would be well if we were in the habit of looking at all we have as God’s gift, undeservedly given, and day by day continued to us solely by his mercy.” He urged us to “thankfully commemorate,” and “dwell upon” the many ways God has gifted us.
This might be a good resolution to take up during these years of Eucharistic Revival and beyond. Let us give thanks “always
and everywhere.”
We certainly give thanks for the graces of our temporary mission in Ireland and our newly opened convent in Warren, OH that you will read about in this issue.