Worship – An Act of Thanksgiving

And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. – Luke 17:15 How can we thank God for all that He has done for us? What could we possibly have to offer Him? Our first reading and Gospel passage offer us two parallel examples to consider. Naaman, who was healed from leprosy, wanted to give Elisha a…

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A Grateful Response

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,…

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Rejoice!

“Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I shall say it again: rejoice!” (Phil 4:4). Over and over, Scripture exhorts us to rejoice in our Lord. The Psalms, especially, are full of calls to worship God, praise His holy name, and sing of His glory: “Let all the earth cry out to God with joy” (Ps 66: 1). Rejoicing is a joyful cry of the heart. When we worship—especially when we sing from our hearts at…

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