Families, church members and students are under a lot of stress this Thanksgiving season. It may be difficult to find reasons to be thankful when our churches are closing or being clustered, we are unemployed or struggling with family stress during the holidays. For some families, even coming up with the money for Thanksgiving dinner may be difficult this year.
What can we do, as Catechists, to help, especially if we too are struggling with these issues?

1/ Discuss the stressors. Sometimes just sharing the fears and difficulties may help our students to get through the rough times. Open discussions can also present ideas or solutions that haven’t been considered before. It decreases stress to know that we are not alone. Creating a safe place to talk can provide a valuable resource for our students.

2/ Offer real help. Organizing a food or coat drive can give real assistance to those who need it while teaching a lesson in living out the Catholic virtue of charity to our students. Taking students to volunteer at a soup kitchen or halfway house may also make them aware of the blessings that they have in their own lives.

3/ Make a Thanksgiving Turkey or Cornucopia of thanks. Have students list things they are thankful for and place them around a circle as feathers on the turkey or on pieces of paper fruit pieces to fill the cornucopia.

4/ Play an opposite game of thanks. The idea is to take a negative and turn it into a positive. For example: We don’t have money to buy everyone a Christmas present this year so we are going to make gifts or write letters to each other. Dad lost his job so he will be home to make cookies for the first time during the holidays.

5/ Use church closings and clusterings to create new traditions. This has been a really hard year for so many parishes. At a church near us the school has been shut down. Nearby, friends are struggling with the closing of their parish. It is hard to feel grateful under these circumstances. There can be blessings found even in these difficult times. Consider merging the church celebrations this year (possibly even before they have been clustered) so that parishioners can get to know each other and share their talents. Acknowledge the sadness of the moment while trying to look forward to the new experiences to come. Encourage positive attitudes rather than falling into the negativity of the situation. It can be a time of new friendships and a better stewardship of resources for all. Be assured of my prayers, dear reader and may God bless you and Happy Thanksgiving!

(Originally published, in part, in HFC column for OSV, 2009)