We celebrated Harvest Thanksgiving!

Thank you to all who joined us for Harvest Thanksgiving!

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AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE

For most of us, Thanksgiving will be different this year. It will be the first time since the first shut-down in March 2020 (the start of the COVID-19 pandemic) that there will not be a limit placed on the number of persons allowed to sit around the turkey. For that we are THANKFUL!

My granny “raised” my brother and me while our parents lived in England. She was very clear that she had a sacred responsibility and that she would do her best. One of her tasks was to teach us manners, for “manners maketh man”. That was her mantra. She insisted that we should always “say thanks when someone gives you something. It is good manners”.

Thankfulness is more than an act of good manners. It ought to be a major component of our lives. During the Thanksgiving holiday, we focus on our blessings (usually stated in material things) and express our thankfulness to God for them. When thankfulness becomes an integral part of our life, our attitude towards life changes.

Without thankfulness and gratitude, in our lives, we become self-centered, bitter, and idolatrous. Idolatry begins when we reject what we know about God. Instead of looking to God as the Creator and sustainer of life, we see ourselves as the center of the universe. A life of thankfulness is an attitude toward God, toward life, and toward other people.

There is a legend about a man who found the barn where Satan kept his seeds ready to be sown in the human heart, and on finding the seeds of discouragement more numerous than others, he learned that those seeds could be made to grow almost anywhere. When Satan was questioned, he reluctantly admitted that there was one place in which he could never get the seeds of discouragement to thrive. ‘And where is that?’ asked the man. Satan replied sadly, “In the heart of a grateful person.”
Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.

Canon Stephen +
Sub-Dean & Vicar

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Please join us in a Prayer of Gratitude:

“Loving Lord, as I express my gratitude to you in prayer, may it be a pleasing, joyful sound to you.
Thank you, Lord, for your love. It brings me acceptance and significance.
Thank you, Lord, for your truth. It brings me guidance and direction.
Thank you, Lord, for your mercy. It brings me help and comfort.
Thank you, Lord, for your faithfulness. It brings me stability and strength.
Thank you, Lord, for your beauty displayed in the earth. It brings me joy and delight.
Thank you, Lord, for your way of redemption – the cross. It brings me salvation and regeneration.”
By Beth McLendon

Harvest Thanksgiving at St. James Cathedral

We thank the Cathedral community for joining us in spreading joy and thankfulness by sharing your messages of gratitude to celebrate Thanksgiving Day.

Thanksgiving Day Messages

“I am so very very thankful for the ‘love of my life’ – my wife, Beverley. We have been together gor 56 years, married for 51 years. A day does not go by that I don’t thank God for this blessing. She continues to make me laugh many times throughout the day and has been uncompromisingly supportive. She has been the mainstay of our family, guiding me as we raised our five sons. Thanks to God for Bev!!”
Louis Nettleton

“Thank you for all our blessings, we have peace, we have food, and we have friends.” Nick

“Happy Thanksgiving Day! I am grateful for loving God & Canada.”

“I am grateful for the beauty of God’s creation.”

“Thanking God for his faithfulness and mercies.”

“I am grateful that I am a beloved creature of God no matter what.”

“We are grateful for setting up this Thanksgiving Day messages box.”

“Thank you for the people of St. James Cathedral and the opportunity to learn and serve together.”

“I am very thankful for my home, my friends, and having enough good food and water every day.”

“I am grateful for being part of St. James Cathedral community of faith.”

“Thank you for God’s gift of music in all its forms, especially singing.”

“I am thankful and grateful to Almighty God for health, strength, for my family, friends, and for St. James Cathedral for the guidance and spiritual insight.”

“I am grateful for my wife; she supports me in everything.”

“I am grateful for good health, my family, and all the miracles big and small in my life.”

“I am grateful for the joy and wonder of life itself.”

“I am extremely thankful for all the things I have prayed for that have come to fruition. God is GOOD.”