If you had the opportunity to select a commemorative candy to represent Thanksgiving, what would it be?  During the homily in chapel at St. Philip’s School and Community Center, we pondered this question with our students. We came up with two candy titles. One of them is a fairly common brand: Now and Later. As we discussed being grateful for ALL God has done to get us to where we are Now, And the many blessings he has in store for us Later. Thank GOD for the AND!

For the second candy, we had to come up with something new, because it did not already exist. Lemonheads are similar to the candy we decided we should invent. We selected lemonheads because of the bitter sourness and the sweet sensation they provide. Our candy will be called THEN. We felt it would be perfect in reflecting on what God did for us last year, ten years ago, and way back then. A reminder that He brought us through the bitter and the sweet. 

The ultimate blessing being the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ - a bitter death that allows us the opportunity for a sweet, eternal life. We decided that for Thanksgiving, Now and Later would be an inadequate candy title because we also needed to capture gratefulness for the past. Therefore, we will need to innovate a new candy called THEN.

On behalf of our students, parents, faculty, staff, youth, and the senior citizens we serve, I extend to you, gratefulness for the “candy.” We thank you for your blessings to St. Philip’s Then as well as the blessings Now and Later.

Have a glorious Thanksgiving!