How Many Times will you Give Thanks Today? Make it a Multitude!

2020 is a litany of endless woes. What’s there to be thankful for?

There’s a little Christian secret to get us through difficult times, whether we’re facing the death of loved ones, coronavirus lockdowns, cancelled religious services and locked churches, isolation, and unemployment, a messy presidential election, or whatever it might be.

Mon Nov 16, 2020 - 6:23 pm EST

 

Gratitude: A Great Virtue for Lent and Every Day!

I read an article this morning on gratitude which reminded me of a Chesterton quote. We say grace

before meals to thank God for the food we eat. But here's what Chesterton said:

“You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink.”—G. K. Chesterton

Have You Said, "Thank You" Today?

Today's gospel reading told about the cure of the ten lepers. When only one came back to say, "Thank you," Jesus asked if all ten were cured. He lamented that the only one to return was a "foreigner," because he was a Samaritan. But Jesus paid him the greatest compliment -- "Your faith has saved you." He was definitely NOT a foreigner to gratitude! Those who are "foreigners" to gratitude are likely to be "foreigners" to faith as well. Because gratitude is one of the "parent" virtues that stimulates all the others.

So think of someone to whom you owe gratitude and give them a phone call today or write them a note. I remember a friend of mine telling about a priest to whom she had written a thank you note. One day when she was with him she noticed that her note was the bookmark in his breviary (or perhaps it was another book). It was long past when she had sent it and it made her realize how important a little thing like saying thank you can be. How would you feel to know someone had a five or ten year old note from you marking the pages of his Bible?

What a great month to think about thanksgiving. Start today and say, "Thank you!" to someone every day through Thanksgiving. Won't that make your Thanksgiving Day especially meaningful?

I want to send a big prayer of gratitude especially to my parents, Ray and Margaret, for all the sacrifices and love they showered on me growing up and even after, and to my husband's parents, Albert and Margaret, who raised such a wonderful, considerate son. I couldn't have found a better man to marry and rear children with. Thanks, Honey, you are the best!

Did You Say Thank You Today?

Gratitude: what a wonderful virtue for Advent. 

I was particularly reminded to be grateful this morning when I got up and my husband told me the furnace was out. What a wonderful thing to have central heating. You appreciate it most when it's on the fritz. Thank you, Lord, for all those who developed the wonderful gift of central heating. What a gift not to stoke a fireplace in every room and deal with coal dust and ashes every day. Thank you, Lord!

I'm also increasingly grateful for my joints, particularly since I injured my right shoulder a few weeks ago. I'm right handed so the impact of not being able to raise my arm is significant. Oh, how grateful I am now for all those years when motion wasn't restricted. What a blessing to be able to comb my hair, raise my arm to put on a shirt, and lift dishes into the cupboard - to pick up a little granddaughter and swing her in an arc saying, "Tick-tock, tick-tock." Thank you, Lord.

Will I ever be able to do those things again? The therapist isn't sure and pain is a real tyrant. But think of all those years when movement was fluid and easy and I never gave a thought to the miracle of a ball and joint. Thank you, Lord.

And even pain is a gift, a continuous reminder of all the people in my life who suffer either physically or mentally. Use the sacrifice of my pain, Lord, to help them. Make me grateful to have a small splinter from Your cross to offer for others. Thank you, Lord!

Yes, today and every day I want to give thanks - not just for the big things, but the little things, to breathe thanksgiving all day long with every pulse of my heart. Chesterton said it well:

“You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink.”

Everything is a grace and a blessing. May we remember that as we wait in anticipation for the greatest blessing of all -- the coming of our Savior.

Check out CNA's webpage on the New Missal Translation

This coming Sunday, the Church unveils the new translation of the Roman Missal which brings Holy Mother Church back into greater conformity with the Mass of the ages. (Now why didn't they just translate the Tridentine Mass in the first place?)

Faithful Catholics rejoice at theis move toward a more reverent and more catholic (i.e., universal) connection to those who went before us.

Catholic News Service offers a webpage on the new translation with multiple resources to help Catholics understand and appreciate the changes. It's something to be thankful for when you eat your turkey dinner on Thursday and light your Advent wreath on Sunday. "Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever." Psalm 107