Tom Schulte/Georgia Bulletin

ATLANTA—Gratitude is abounding this season. Guest contributors Patty Childs, superintendent of Catholic Schools; Frank Mulcahy, the director of the Georgia Catholic Conference; and Sister Josefa Maria Chicoine, VHM, share what they are most thankful for in hopes readers will consider the blessings in their own lives.

Patty Childs, Superintendent of Catholic Schools

A reflection by Patty Childs

As we approach this season of gratitude, I find myself reflecting on my many infinite blessings. There is much to celebrate and to be thankful for this year, and every year.  

I am grateful to have grown up in a multi-generational home and have wonderful, shared memories with a large extended family. The traditions created through the generations have rooted me in love and in my faith. 

I am grateful that I learned rules and congenial competition through hours of board and card games, that praying the rosary before climbing into bed was an expectation and understanding that Sunday Mass was more than an obligation but rather, a shared expression of faith and community. 

I am thankful for my husband who is a source of encouragement and support, for my son who continues to bring such joy to my life, for my wonderful daughter-in-law and my amazing grandsons. I am grateful to be a daughter, sister, aunt, great-aunt and friend.   

As superintendent, I am thankful for the blessings that make our Catholic school communities so special. As Catholic schools, we are privileged to not only teach academics but also to nurture faith, values and character. I want to share my heartfelt thanks to our school leaders, faculties and staff, clergy and parish communities who are such vital members in this shared mission. 

I am grateful for the energy, enthusiasm and joy that the children, from pre-k to our high school seniors, bring to our classrooms each day. Their faith, curiosity, kindness and resilience inspire me. I am grateful to be a part of the sacred duty we share with our wonderful parents in shaping the hearts and minds of the next generation. Each student is a unique gift from God and seeing them grow in mind, body and spirit brings me immense joy.  

I am thankful for the powerful sense of community our schools form and share. From sharing in worship, volunteering for events, to supporting each other during challenging times, we enrich our Catholic communities as our faith deepens through commitment and by word and deed. It is mission and the spirit of collaboration that forms a school into a family and strengthens us all. I am thankful to be a part of our Catholic school communities and thankful for the ways they are each unique yet all united in mission.  

In this season of Thanksgiving, I pray that families—mine and yours—find love, peace and abundant blessings. May we make this holiday a time to reflect on building a legacy of faith, learning, and love.  

Happy Thanksgiving!  

P.S. I am also thankful for my grandma’s recipe for stuffing, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade! 

Frank Mulcahy, director of the Georgia Catholic Conference

A recollection of true gifts by Frank Mulcahy 

Thanksgiving is my favorite family celebration each year. We gather with the same families as we have for many years as the family members have grown in age and with the addition of spouses and a new generation of young ones. We all recollect the many gifts received over the years, especially the deepening friendships among ourselves and with others. The real reasons for thanksgiving are not material gifts or even the food and drink shared, welcome as they may be, but the spirit among us. I always find it helpful to consider the details of what we have received so that we recognize the richness of every relationship. 

Thanksgiving is at the heart of our relationship with God. The psalmist prayed “How shall I make a return to the lord for all He has done for me? … To you will offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving.” (Ps 116: 12, 17)  

German mystic Meister Eckhart recognized that “If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.” St. Ignatius of Loyola recommends a daily examination of each day as the most important prayer of the day and thanksgiving is the first point of the prayer. In daily thanksgiving, we can make return to the Lord and find God in all things. 

For Catholics, the “source and summit of the Christian life” is the Eucharist and it is an action of thanksgiving to God. (Catechism of the Catholic Church section 1322, 1328) 

Words of thanksgiving permeate the entire eucharistic celebration from “thanks be to God” for the Scripture readings to the final dismissal. The canon of the Mass calls giving thanks “our duty and our salvation.” At the consecration of bread into the body of Christ, the celebrant calls our minds to Jesus giving thanks at the institution of the Eucharist at the last supper. 

We gather for many purposes, and we offer prayer for many reasons but the prayers and gathering in thanksgiving should rise up every day.  

St. Therese of Lisieux said: “What most attracts God’s grace is gratitude, because if we thank him for a gift, he is touched and hastens to give us ten more … I have experienced this; try it for yourself and you will see.” 

Sister Josefa Maria Chicoine of the Visitation Monastery

Heart of gratitude by Sister Josefa Maria Chicoine, VHM 

Live+ Jesus! 

My heart is full of gratitude for this Monastery of the Visitation. It is where I have found my peace, my joy and the fulfillment of my dream of what I had longed for, my ideal religious life. I have lived here in this Maryfield Monastery from the time it was built. Here is a real family spirit, the sisters caring for each other, and trying to love Our Lord with all their hearts. It is not paradise, nor are the sisters perfect, but there is a spirit of compassion for all who are in need. 

These sisters pray for the whole world, but especially for their families, our friends and benefactors, for the needs of our country and of Georgia in particular. Mother Francis de Sales Cassidy’s dream is being fulfilled in her sisters in this Foundation of Atlanta-Snellville. We are so grateful to all who came to the assistance of our sisters in 1954 in Atlanta, especially the monks of the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers; the Sisters of Mercy at St. Joseph’s Hospital and the Cancer Home Dominican Sisters who furnished all the rooms of the Sisters (20 of them) with hospital beds, desks and cabinets. Yes, I am grateful for the 70 years of the Visitation in Atlanta, where I entered, and the 50 years of this Maryfield Monastery.

I thank God every day for my vocation to the Visitation, and I especially thank God for this Monastery, for all the wonderful sisters and superiors I have known. Yes, my heart is full of gratitude. 

God be praised!