Thanksgiving has been celebrated in the United States since 1863, and has been a national holiday since 1941. While originally a religious holiday to celebrate the end of the liturgical year and to give thanks to God for the blessings of the past year, today in the United States the holiday is primarily recognized as a secular holiday.
The readings for today revolve around giving thanks to God. As others have commented, however, every mass is the supreme celebration of thanksgiving to Our Lord. Still, to recall on this day our need to give thanks to God for all the blessings that we have (especially, as there is no other creator and redeemer for us to give thanks to) seems a liturgically important and fitting celebration.
So, Happy Thanksgiving to all in the United States and everywhere else today that joins us in giving thanks to Our Lord for the blessings we have received over the last year.
Image: The First Thanksgiving at Plymouth (1914) By Jennie A. Brownscombe. From Wikimedia Commons.
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