Dean Cain’s 2023 Thanksgiving Address

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“He Hath Remembered His Mercy”

By Steven R. Cain, Ph.D.
Dean
Thomas Aquinas College, New England
Thanksgiving Dinner
November 20, 2023

In the proclamation that Mr. Cross read for us before dinner, President Lincoln begins by pointing out the bountiful blessings that God had bestowed upon our nation even as He was chastising it for its sins. He speaks of the blessings of nature and of blessings in the civil order: America was still able to till the soil and reap its fruits, to enjoy the blessings of respect for the law and peace with other nations; its industry was prospering, and its numbers increasing. In all these things, he saw the guiding hand of God, and says:

No human counsel hath devised, nor hath any moral hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, Who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.

He hath remembered His mercy. Here is the root of those blessing and the foundation for our gratitude. Considering that the proclamation was made at the height of our civil war, a war that was far longer and far bloodier than had been anticipated (and was to last another year and a half), when the country was bearing the burden of those widowed and orphaned, was mourning and suffering because of the strife of soldiers that on both sides were her sons; in the midst of such bloodshed and suffering to see the loving hand of God’s mercy bestowing manifold and gracious gifts took a greatness of mind and heart. To see through God’s chastisements to His loving heart could not have been easy, not because it was not visible in His gifts, but because in the midst of our sufferings we find it hard to raise our eyes to it.

“These are blessings of God’s mercy. And they are bestowed, I am sure, so that the Church, with all her faults and weaknesses due to the human instruments She uses, can be a leaven to our culture, to our nation.”

The mercy that God was bestowing on our nation when this proclamation was made is still being bestowed on us today. And a recognition — or better, a remembrance — of His mercy ought to move us to give Him thanks from the very depths of our hearts, for it puts His gifts before us not only as freely given, but also as undeserved. Is it not true that when we receive a gift from someone we have wronged, we see that the gift is meant to show the depths of the love they have for us? 

“God so loved the world, as to give His only-begotten Son.” 

The Gospel from yesterday’s feast shows us something of God’s mercy and how we should respond to it. Jesus was walking through Jericho (which was located on the north shore of the Dead Sea) and saw Zachaeus in a tree. With no instigation from Zachaeus, Our Lord called to him and asked to come to his house. This was utterly unlooked for. Zachaeus was the first of publicans and rich through the extortion of money from the people. The crowd saw this, but with less merciful eyes, for they murmured that Jesus was going to the house of a sinner. But Zachaeus, who recognized his own unworthiness, saw the mercy behind this favor, and responded with an admirable generosity, giving half of what he had to the poor, and righting the wrongs he had done to others. But why was this this mercy shown to Zachaeus? Because, though not deserving it, he had something in him that made him ready to receive it and through it to grow in his love of God. We are told that Zachaeus was in the tree because he was short of stature, but wanted to see Jesus, and, not just to see Him but by seeing Him to come to see who He was. Because of this desire, Our Lord called to him and said, I must stay at your house today.

God shows His mercy not just to persons like Zachaeus, and you and me, but also to cities and nations. In this light I would like to look at the conversation between God and Abraham concerning the destruction of Sodom, another city on the shores of the Dead Sea. We know the story. God is going to destroy Sodom because of their sin is very grave, but Abraham intercedes: Far be it from You to destroy the just with the wicked. For the sake of 50, 45, 40 … even just 10 just men, God will not destroy Sodom. I have always been struck by Abraham stopping at 10. What would God have said if he tried to get Him to spare Sodom for just one just man? But what we do know is that he found not even one. “All the people of Sodom, to the last man” were caught up in its wickedness. Even Lot lingered when told to leave, and the angels had to seize him by the hand and lead him from the city; “remembering Abraham, He delivered Lot out of the destruction.” The next morning Abraham rose early and looked toward Sodom, and he saw smoke rising from the place. What was in his heart when he saw that? Did he doubt the mercy of God?

But why would God be willing to spare the whole city, so given to sin, for the sake of only 10 just men? We should certainly think to the parable of the wheat and the tares, in which the tares are allowed to grow, lest any of the wheat be pulled up with them. But if there were only 10 just men in Sodom, surely God would have known who they were and could have led them from the city as He led Lot. I think it is because those 10 would have evoked from God not only His forbearance, but also His mercy, for them and for the whole city. They would have been to Sodom what that hopeful desire was in Zachaeus that led him to want to see who Jesus was. They could have acted as a leaven that could lead to a rebirth of righteousness in Sodom. But they were not there, and Sodom was destroyed. It apparently now lies below the surface of the Dead Sea.

“We have not deserved the great blessings He has bestowed on us. But if He has bestowed them on us, then we must be exceedingly grateful.”

The Dead Sea, by the way, is the lowest point on the surface of the earth. Our Lord going there to bestow His mercy is a sign of the depths of His condescension and His love. 

Now, there is much that is wrong in our country today, just as there was at the time of the Civil War. But like with Zachaeus, and unlike with Sodom, God still bestows His mercy upon us, for we have something like Zachaeus’s longing still. With all that is wrong, there is much that is right. We are able to live in relative peace and harmony with each other (in spite of those who have been trying to make it otherwise) and we are still able to practice our religion in relative freedom (in spite of those who have been trying to make it otherwise). These are blessings of God’s mercy. And they are bestowed, I am sure, so that the Church, with all her faults and weaknesses due to the human instruments She uses, can be a leaven to our culture, to our nation. It is through the prayers and supplications of her members that She draws forth for our nation God’s merciful love. Most especially, I think it is the prayers of the many monks and nuns who have given over their whole lives to the worship and praise of God that He stays His wrath. But the rest of the Church too is in His gaze as He looks forth for just 10 just men.

And this brings me to this community, this college. We too have received God’s merciful love. We have been given the great gift of spending a part of our lives here attempting to see Jesus, who He is. The success of this College, beginning from its founding, has been guided and protected by the provident and loving hand of God. And it is a merciful hand. We have not deserved the great blessings He has bestowed on us. But if He has bestowed them on us, then we must be exceedingly grateful. We must cherish His magnificence and use the graces He has given us to grow in righteousness and love so that we can be a leaven to the those around us, and to our country. Then we will be, like Zachaeus, not merely receptacles, but also instruments of God’s mercy.

Please join me in praying a Glory be in thanksgiving to and adoration of our merciful God.

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