God has done so much for us. We can ask ourselves if we truly give thanks each and every day for all that God has given us. Like the leper in today’s Gospel reading who returned to give thanks to God for his healing, the first step of gratitude is simply to notice how God cares for us. Each of us has so much to be thankful for. We’ve received small, everyday gifts and large, life-changing gifts alike. We are truly blessed!
“I urge you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship” (Rom 12:1).
So what should gratitude to God look like? God lacks nothing, so what can we possibly give Him? Living stewardship as a way of life is one way to show gratitude to Our Lord. When we recognize that everything is a gift from God (Jas 1:17), giving back to others by offering our time, talent, and treasure becomes a natural way to say “thank you” with our lives.
Another way to give thanks is through heartfelt praise and worship. The thankful leper “returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him” (Lk 17:15-16). Also, pay attention to the prayer the priest offers at Mass just before the Consecration: “It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere to give you thanks, Almighty Father” (Preface, Roman Missal). Our response to this call to give thanks is to sing the “Holy, Holy, Holy.”
“Gratitude is not only the greatest of the virtues but the parent of all others.” ~Greek philosopher Cicero
Like the thankful leper, our grateful response is our salvation. For of the ten lepers that were cleansed, only one was saved. Jesus told him: “Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?…Stand up and go; your faith has saved you” (Lk 17: 18-19). Our offerings of prayer and adoration are true signs of gratitude in our hearts. Let us give thanks to the Lord!
Lord, by your grace, I will offer my gratitude to You by spending time adoring You in the Blessed Sacrament sometime this week.