If your upbringing was anything like mine, then perhaps you have memories of attending Sunday Mass as a family and coming home to enjoy a big breakfast with loved ones. The meal would often exceed the time frame of all other weekly meals because there was always good conversation. In my family, there was more than just conversation. You see, there would be singing that would continue throughout the day. God bless my dear mom! She could not carry a tune, but she loved to sing. On Sundays, it was not uncommon for her to sing a few lines from a song that we had sung at holy Mass that day. If she could not remember the words, then she would just hum it.

One such song I vividly recall Mom bringing home was a hymn titled, “Give Thanks and Remember.” If you search the words, you will find that the hymn is Eucharistic in nature; however, the act of giving thanks and remembering is also something we Catholics are to embrace every day in our prayer. We give thanks to our provident and benevolent God, and we remember and pray for the dead. These actions of thanking and remembering hold a particular poignancy in the month of November. As a nation, we give thanks for the harvest and the freedoms we enjoy as Americans. And with the whole Church, we remember and pray for the dead.

Some years ago, I remember participating in a parish staff day of recollection at a retreat house. It was an intentional time for us to pray and reflect. The speaker, a layman, invited us to each commit ourselves to writing daily in what he called a “gratitude journal.” He asked us to, every day, reflect on our lives in a spirit of thanksgiving and write about it.

The act of thanking God is not just for November or Thanksgiving Day but for every day, for all that we are and have is a gift from God. I am reminded of the Common Preface IV in which we say: “You have no need of our praise, yet our desire to thank you is itself your gift. Our prayer of thanksgiving adds nothing to your greatness, but makes us grow in holiness.” Thanksgiving engenders holiness. It is important not only in our individual prayer, but also when we are asked to lead our people in prayer at various gatherings, during which we can intentionally include the element of thanksgiving.

In that same vein, it is equally imperative that we willfully remember the dead, and not just in formal ways such as holy Mass, funeral rites and death anniversaries. Nor should we limit these intentional remembrances to November and the names we write in the Book of Remembrance. Remembering and praying for the dead must always be part of our spiritual regimen.

One way we could do just that is to participate in what I would call a litany of remembrance in which, individually and/or collectively, we take a moment and voice the names of deceased loved ones. I received this idea during my celebrations of confirmation this past year. As I looked at confirmands’ name tags and called them by name, I found this to be a particularly prayerful moment for me. Each name became a part of a litany that I began to pray to those named saints, asking them to pray with us and for us. I must confess, however, that some names did not appear to have a “saintly” origin. Nevertheless, I deferred it to the all-knowing God. Might I also suggest that this litany of remembrance could make a great prayer or penance at any time, but especially in November?

Looking back, I am so grateful for my dear mom who taught the five of us children so much, even without a college education. She taught us the importance of singing a hymn of thanksgiving and remembrance to God every day. When I pause to look at the blessings in my life and the people who have gone before me, how can I keep from singing? 

BISHOP DAVID J. BONNAR, editor of The Priest, is bishop of the Diocese of Youngstown.