Customarily,
on Thanksgiving Day almost everyone is thankful --
except, of course, the turkey.
While you're still smiling (or groaning), consider
this confounding conundrum: Gratitude has a double
focus; a person can be thankful for something, and
also thankful to someone.
Imagine for a moment that you're an atheist (God
forbid it be a reality!). As a person joining in
the holiday "thank-recital," you might be thankful
for good weather, for good health, for being still
alive, etc. Yet, like the thankless turkey, you're
not thankful to anyone for such heaven-sent
blessings. Of course you may be thankful for a gift
and thankful to the giver -- but only if the giver
is human and not Divine! That's as discombobulating
as the bumper sticker that says, "Thank God I'm an
atheist!
We may not realize how "de-personalized" our
gratitude can become. If questioned, we'll freely
acknowledge God as the source of countless benefits
and blessings, and even our very existence.
Occasionally -- such as Thanksgiving time -- we may
be "thankful for" our blessings, but far less often
specifically "thankful to" our gracious and
immensely beneficent Creator-God. Being "thankful
to" Him is not just enjoying his gifts, but
acknowledging Him as the Giver. By thus
"personalizing" our God-focused gratitude we can
sublimate our thankfulness into a fervent "prayer
of thanksgiving."
St. Bernard says that most Christians fail to
realize that "any God-sent blessing left
unacknowledged results in the Lord withholding many
further blessings that would otherwise flood our
soul." And St. Theresa says that even very pious
souls offend our Divine Benefactor by sins far more
often than they thank Him for his benefits. Even
among devout Christians who seldom sin, most ask
God for favors far more often than they give thanks
for favors. Heaven re-echoes with "Please, Lord"
far more than "Thanks, Lord!"
As a priest I receive many Mass requests of
petition, but hardly ever for a Mass of
thanksgiving. ("Eucharist" means thanksgiving!).
An example of this distorted mentality is found in
the biblical event of Jesus' healing of the ten
lepers (Luke 17:11-19). All ten were
certainly "thankful for" their healing, but only
one returned to express "thanks to" the healer. All
said please, but only one said thanks. All received
physical healing; only one received the spiritual
gift of joy from Jesus' compliment: "Your faith has
made you whole."
To grow in gratitude it helps to survey its various
levels. The first level is just being aware of
God's gifts; of course you can't remember them all;
just don't forget them all. The second level is
thanking God for all that you have, but also for
not having many things you don't have -- leprosy,
bankruptcy, a broken water heater, snakebite, or a
cantankerous mother-in-law. The list is endless.
The third level is Paul's mandate which transmutes
the bitter into bittersweet: "Give thanks in all
circumstances" (1 Thessalonians 5:18) -- not
for all circumstances like crime, war, sin, etc.
But thank God for his positive or permissive will
in everything -- including every pain, cross or
trial. Embrace the grace in life's thorns, not just
the roses. Life isn't always a bowl of cherries --
sometimes it's the pits!
The fourth and highest level of gratitude is found
in a phrase you recite in the Gloria at every
Sunday Mass -- most often parroted by rote: "We
thank you for your glory." That's high-octane
gratitude! Lower levels of thankfulness are simply
gratitude for being gratified. This highest level
of gratitude is totally selfless. You're simply
thanking God for being God! If you utter it truly
from your heart -- not just from your lips by
liturgical rote -- it will lift your soul to the
stratosphere of Divine Love. That's when
thanksgiving segues into thanksloving, and, as St.
John proclaims (1 John 4:16), it will then
spill over into your life as thanksliving!
Fr John Hampsch, cmf
& the CTM Staff: Pepper, Marianne, MaryAnn,
Sr Lois, Bob & Cathy
Claretian Teaching Ministry
20610 Manhattan Pl #120
Torrance, CA 90501-1863
310-782-6408
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