He reminded us of the quote by President Washington - "it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor". This is from George Washington's Thanksgiving Proclamation given on October 3 1789.
President Lincoln made it officially the last Thursday in November in his address on October 20, 1864:
It has pleased Almighty God to prolong our national life another year, defending us with His guardian care against unfriendly designs from abroad and vouchsafing to us in His mercy many and signal victories over the enemy, who is of our own household. It has also pleased our Heavenly Father to favor as well our citizens in their homes as our soldiers in their camps and our sailors on the rivers and seas with unusual health. He has largely augmented our free population by emancipation and by immigration, while He has opened to us new sources of wealth and has crowned the labor of our workingmen in every department of industry with abundant rewards. Moreover, He has been pleased to animate and inspire our minds and hearts with fortitude, courage, and resolution sufficient for the great trial of civil war into which we have been brought by our adherence as a nation to the cause of freedom and humanity, and to afford to us reasonable hopes of an ultimate and happy deliverance from all our dangers and afflictions:
Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do hereby appoint and set apart the last Thursday in November next as a day which I desire to be observed by all my fellow-citizens, wherever they may then be, as a day of thanksgiving and praise to Almighty God, the beneficent Creator and Ruler of the Universe. And I do further recommend to my fellow-citizens aforesaid that on that occasion they do reverently humble themselves in the dust and from thence offer up penitent and fervent prayers and supplications to the Great Disposer of Events for a return of the inestimable blessings of peace, union, and harmony throughout the land which it has pleased Him to assign as a dwelling place for ourselves and for our posterity throughout all generations.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the city of Washington, this 20th day of October, A.D. 1864, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-ninth. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. (https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/proclamation-118-thanksgiving-day-1864)
Today we stop and acknowledge God's presence and be thankful and grateful for all we have. It is a day about each of us as individuals to give thanks. As we foster a sense of gratitude, it makes us more aware of all we have.
Let us pray.....
Lord, on this special day of thankfulness, we thank you not only for the delicious food, lovingly prepared and presented, but also for special gifts
you’ve given to this family — loved ones we cherish dearly, a comfortable place to live, the beauty that surrounds us, material pleasures, health, spiritual wealth, and so much more. How can we show our gratitude for the countless blessings you’ve provided? We thank you for giving us clear direction,
through your holy word on how to show our appreciation, by obeying Your commands and by loving and serving our neighbors. Thank you, Lord.
— Joanna Fuchs ( https://www.catholicdigest.com/faith/201611-07five-prayers-to-say-on-thanksgiving/
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