Saturday, October 19, 2013

The Gift of Gratitude

Last Saturday at confession, the priest mentioned the gift of gratitude. He stated that St. Ignatius Loyala (if I recall the saint correctly) stated that too often we are ungrateful to God for His gifts. And we are surrounded by those gifts. Not that we grump about the fantastic sunset or grumble because violets line our path. No. We often simply overlook them or pay them no attention because we are so caught up in our own concerns. The priest suggested thanking God for everything, and making a practice to do so frequently.

One of the formation lessons for the Confraternity of Penitents asks the penitent to take five minutes and list all the things he or she is grateful for. For many, this is an eye opener. They start off and find out that their list, after five minutes, contains things they never were thankful for before, like buttons and eyebrows and tissues for runny noses. Truly, we are surrounded by God's gifts. May God grant us the grace of grateful hearts!

One gift I'm thankful for today is our grandchild Greta who is nine today. Her birth was certainly God's gift to our family, as were the births of our other three grandchildren. Happy birthday, Greta! And thank You, God!

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