Church is the best place to start Thanksgiving

I got to do something today that I've wanted to do for years.

I attended Mass on Thanksgiving Day and thank God in his own house for all my blessings, including saving me so far from leuekmia.

Holy Family Catholic Church sits on a hill on one side of a valley in Brentwood. And it such a place of peace for me, and it is place where families are celebrated and championed. And teens there, too, have been provided a particular ministry to their needs and heroics, thanks to the pastor, the Rev. Ed Alberts.

Thanksgiving often requires a lot of energy inside the household. The turkey needs to be washed and put in the oven in the morning when Mass is usually scheduled. There also is something always forgotten on the shopping list that someone must dash off to Kroger's to get.

Relatives visiting may not share the same religion, or faith at all. So good hosts and cooks try to be everything to everyone. Or some peope are on the road visiting relatives and can't really ask to break away to go to church. Some people run road races to raise food for the needy. That's a great cause.

But it sure is special to be at Mass or at a worship service on Thanksgiving. Singing "We Gather Together" denotes a moving sense of community that makes each of us part of something biggger and better.

So if you didn't make Mass or the local worship service, that's all right. You were busy trying to make a great meal for everyone. But if you get a chance next year, perhaps you can put the turkey in the oven later in morning and get to church to tell God "thanks".