May each of our hearts be opened with humble gratitude to our Lord
By Bishop Mark Beckman
The burst of color each autumn along with sunny, warm days and crisp, cool nights and mornings here in Tennessee always draws my thoughts to the coming celebration of Thanksgiving.
Having just celebrated the feasts of All Saints and All Souls days, I am so grateful for the many persons, both living and those who have gone before us, who have been such a gift to us and to me personally.
Gratitude is spoken of as the memory of the heart. There is perhaps no finer response to the many blessings in our lives that we have received from the Lord than our grateful praise. Praise, thanks, and adoration of our Creator are the highest expression of our life of prayer.
It is said that all created things give praise to God simply by being what they are. That includes the stars of the universe, our beautiful planet earth, and all of the living things both great and small that exist in our world. Only humans in the visible creation can choose whether to give thanks and praise back to our God.
Hymns like “Now Thank We All Our God,” “Let All Things Now Living,” and “For the Beauty of the Earth” express in song these beautiful sentiments of gratitude that rise up in the human heart. The celebration of the Mass itself, our highest form of prayer, is called “Eucharist,” which literally means thanksgiving.
During this season of fall, I invite each of one of you to join me in spending time each day in “counting our blessings” and bringing them to mind.
I often actually count particular blessings on my rosary beads as a way of focusing on gratitude. I do that sometimes while driving around our beautiful diocese and sometimes as I am preparing to fall asleep at night. There is perhaps no better frame of mind to begin and end the day than a simple expression of thanks to our loving God.
One of the great complaints of God toward His people throughout the history of Israel was that they “had forgotten all the good things God had done for them”! Remembering with gratitude the countless and immeasurable blessings of God is the remedy.
It also is to be noted that a heart full of gratitude flows outward in generous love toward our neighbors. We can’t help but love others when we know how blessed and loved we have been.
One of my favorite memories of Thanksgiving Day as a pastor was the joy of the liturgy on that day! It is not a day of obligation, so the church is filled with folks who simply want to be there and express their love for God and each other in a visible way.
Most of the parishes also providentially did a food drive with Thanksgiving Mass, and the overflowing generosity of God’s people filled the church with bags of food for our neighbors in need. Such a moving moment.
May each of our hearts be opened this fall with humble gratitude to our Lord and may we express that gratitude in love and generosity.
“Let all things now living a song of Thanksgiving to God our Creator, triumphantly raise!”