Today we gather around the lunch table with family, friends, and co-workers to share good food, warm laughter, and the happy memories of Thanksgivings past. But for many families, whose loved ones serve in the Armed Forces, this year's Thanksgiving celebration will not be complete.
A familiar voice will not be heard and a chair at the table will remain empty because, they have someone far from home serving our country.
Today also, members of the Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, and Coastguard (men and women, Active Duty, Reserve and National Guard alike) will gather in mess halls or in tents across the globe as friends and comrades to enjoy the traditional Thanksgiving meal.
So, as those of us who are blessed to be with our families, celebrate and give thanks, let us remember in our prayers the homes that have an empty chair at the table and also offer a special prayer of thanksgiving and ask God’s Blessings for the brave men and women of our Armed Forces, whose service and sacrifice will, we further pray, make the world a better and safer place. And a very special prayer dear God, for those homes that have an empty chair that will forever remain vacant and for those servicemen and women who have not come back to us, may their sacrifice not have been in vain.
THANKSGIVING PRAYER
Oh God, when we have food, help us remember the hungry. When we have a home, help us remember the homeless. When we are with friends and family who love us, help us remember those who are friendless and shunned. And by remembering, help us destroy our complacency, move our hearts and reach out by word and deed to those who cry out for what we take for granted.
Thank you for this food as it nourishes our bodies today. Be with us as we travel this week for the holiday, and bring us all back safely. In God’s name we pray…Amen!