(Alternate reading verses among those present.)
Reader: A reading from the Book of Psalms: Psalm 65: A Psalm of Thanksgiving.
Praise is due to you in Zion, O God.
Reader: Blessed is he whom you choose and call to dwell in your courts.
We are filled with the good things of your house, of your holy temple.
Reader: You visit the earth, give it water; you fill it with riches.
God’s ever-flowing river brims over to prepare the grain.
Reader: You crown the year with your bounty.
Abundance flows in your pathways;
in pastures of the desert it flows.
Reader: The hills are girded with you,
the meadows clothed with flocks.
The valleys are decked with wheat.
They shout for joy; yes, they sing!
As an option, each family member may express gratitude for something or someone for which he or she is personally grateful before saying together:
All: Father, all-powerful,
your gifts of love are countless
and your goodness infinite;
as we come before you on Thanksgiving Day
with gratitude for your kindness,
open our hearts to have concern
for every man, woman, and child,
so that we may share your gifts in loving service.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
(From the
Third Edition of the Roman Missal
, “Opening Prayer for Thanksgiving Day,” Copyright 2011, International Commission on English In the Liturgy, Washington, DC.)