This year the last few days of our liturgical year coincides with Thanksgiving in the U.S. It seems appropriate for our church “new year’s eve” to be spent eucharistically, that is, in giving thanks to God for all that we have received. The great spiritual writer and monk, Thomas Merton once wrote, “[Gratitude] is constantly awakening to new wonder and to praise of the goodness of God. For the grateful person knows that God is good, not by hearsay but by experience.”