IT'S really for our own good. To be thankful to God for all his
blessings to us, including especially his mercy, is really for our own
benefit rather than for any good we can give to him.
God does not need anything from us. What he wants is that we learn
to be with him always since we are his children, created in his image
and likeness. He wants to share his life with us. God loses nothing if
we choose not to be with him. But without him, we are the ones who
would lose everything.
This, to me, is the precious lesson we can learn from the gospel
about the 10 lepers cured by Christ. (Lk 17,11-19) Only one of them,
the unlikely Samaritan, came back to thank Christ for the healing. But
Christ asked, 'where are the other nine?' Yes, Christ expects us to be
thankful to him.
A heart that is not thankful is an isolated heart. It’s a lonely
heart that thinks it can live and do things simply by itself, in
violation of our nature and what we actually feel deep in our hearts.
It has no other way but to be unhappy.
A thankful heart will never be alone and sad. It recognizes the
many blessings and good things that it continues to receive. And it
knows where they come from, and also for what purpose they are given.
It will always be happy.
To be grateful is a necessity for us. It does us a lot of good. It
keeps alive the reality that we depend on God and others for
everything. It strengthens our intimacy with him, and our awareness
that whatever happens in our life, God is always in control.
It makes us keenly aware of the all-powerful and merciful
providence of God. With that providence, we would know that even the
dark, negative things in life have meaning and purpose. They, at
least, give excitement and beauty in life, because life, without these
elements and when it only has all things bright and rosy, would be
boring.
It keeps us humble and simple, otherwise we start inventing things
and distorting reality. It keeps our feet on the ground even as we let
our mind and heart soar to high heavens.
It makes our heart tender and at the same time strong, a perfect
foil to our tendency to be hardened or to get lost as we tackle life’s
many challenges. In other words, it helps us to maintain our humanity
well, resistant to the temptation to become mechanical and robotic as
we face life’s trials and hardships.
It helps us to be mindful of others, thus strengthening the unity
among ourselves. It will make us more attentive and appreciative of
others and of what they actually do to us, even if they commit some
mistakes. It will loosen the grip of our self-absorption and the
unhealthy sense of self-sufficiency that leads us to selfishness.
Gratitude forms an essential part of our relation with God. It is
the adequate response we give upon seeing the continuous attention and
care God gives us. It makes us stick to the reality of our life. It
keeps us from inventing a world unhinged from its Creator and from
others.
In short, it keeps us to be with God, which is what is proper to
us. To be ungrateful can only make the many good things God has given
us to turn sour and dangerous. It will only be a matter of time before
these blessings would spoil us.
We need to do everything to cultivate this abiding mentality of
thanksgiving. We have to deliberately do this task, given the
desensitizing effect of the flurry of activities and other allurements
and concerns our modern world is bombarding us with.
We have to see to it that everyday, we are conscious that we are
always thanking God and others. In fact, we need to continue lifting
our heart in thanksgiving all throughout the day, as a Latin phrase
beautifully puts it: “Ut in gratiarum semper actione maneamus.” (May
we always be giving thanks.)
A day without saying “thank you” is a bad day. It’s a clear sign
we are quite self-immersed only, blind to the continuing proof of the
goodness of God and the others. We have to get out of that
predicament.
The practice of saying thank you will always go a long way in
creating and keeping a good spirit in each one of us and in
cultivating a healthy family and social life ever mindful of our need
for God.
blessings to us, including especially his mercy, is really for our own
benefit rather than for any good we can give to him.
God does not need anything from us. What he wants is that we learn
to be with him always since we are his children, created in his image
and likeness. He wants to share his life with us. God loses nothing if
we choose not to be with him. But without him, we are the ones who
would lose everything.
This, to me, is the precious lesson we can learn from the gospel
about the 10 lepers cured by Christ. (Lk 17,11-19) Only one of them,
the unlikely Samaritan, came back to thank Christ for the healing. But
Christ asked, 'where are the other nine?' Yes, Christ expects us to be
thankful to him.
A heart that is not thankful is an isolated heart. It’s a lonely
heart that thinks it can live and do things simply by itself, in
violation of our nature and what we actually feel deep in our hearts.
It has no other way but to be unhappy.
A thankful heart will never be alone and sad. It recognizes the
many blessings and good things that it continues to receive. And it
knows where they come from, and also for what purpose they are given.
It will always be happy.
To be grateful is a necessity for us. It does us a lot of good. It
keeps alive the reality that we depend on God and others for
everything. It strengthens our intimacy with him, and our awareness
that whatever happens in our life, God is always in control.
It makes us keenly aware of the all-powerful and merciful
providence of God. With that providence, we would know that even the
dark, negative things in life have meaning and purpose. They, at
least, give excitement and beauty in life, because life, without these
elements and when it only has all things bright and rosy, would be
boring.
It keeps us humble and simple, otherwise we start inventing things
and distorting reality. It keeps our feet on the ground even as we let
our mind and heart soar to high heavens.
It makes our heart tender and at the same time strong, a perfect
foil to our tendency to be hardened or to get lost as we tackle life’s
many challenges. In other words, it helps us to maintain our humanity
well, resistant to the temptation to become mechanical and robotic as
we face life’s trials and hardships.
It helps us to be mindful of others, thus strengthening the unity
among ourselves. It will make us more attentive and appreciative of
others and of what they actually do to us, even if they commit some
mistakes. It will loosen the grip of our self-absorption and the
unhealthy sense of self-sufficiency that leads us to selfishness.
Gratitude forms an essential part of our relation with God. It is
the adequate response we give upon seeing the continuous attention and
care God gives us. It makes us stick to the reality of our life. It
keeps us from inventing a world unhinged from its Creator and from
others.
In short, it keeps us to be with God, which is what is proper to
us. To be ungrateful can only make the many good things God has given
us to turn sour and dangerous. It will only be a matter of time before
these blessings would spoil us.
We need to do everything to cultivate this abiding mentality of
thanksgiving. We have to deliberately do this task, given the
desensitizing effect of the flurry of activities and other allurements
and concerns our modern world is bombarding us with.
We have to see to it that everyday, we are conscious that we are
always thanking God and others. In fact, we need to continue lifting
our heart in thanksgiving all throughout the day, as a Latin phrase
beautifully puts it: “Ut in gratiarum semper actione maneamus.” (May
we always be giving thanks.)
A day without saying “thank you” is a bad day. It’s a clear sign
we are quite self-immersed only, blind to the continuing proof of the
goodness of God and the others. We have to get out of that
predicament.
The practice of saying thank you will always go a long way in
creating and keeping a good spirit in each one of us and in
cultivating a healthy family and social life ever mindful of our need
for God.
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