By Sister Karolyn Rose, O.C.D.
Gratitude. It is the song of the heart that every soul can sing and every ear delights to hear. Its fragrance has the capacity to expand the heart and open the eyes of all who smell its sweet aroma. But how does this happen? During His earthly life, our Lord saw all as gift from His Heavenly Father. “Father, they [this person, that outcome, these circumstances etc.] are your gift to me” (John 17:24). To see all as gift changes everything! Its magnanimous potency takes “what is” and turns it into “what is given.” When we are given a meaningful gift by someone we love, no matter what it is, there is something inside of us that remembers how beloved we are. We are unconsciously drawn back to our core identity as chosen and delighted in. Usually without our awareness or consent, we remember and embrace again the Father’s ever-present gaze of love. Gratitude is to receive all with open hands knowing that it comes from the hands of our Heavenly Father who can’t take His eyes off us. We are reminded in Sacred Scripture: “If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him” (Matthew 7:11).
A priest shared with me in confession not too long ago that when the devil tries to remind you of your past sins and shortcomings, find the nearest crucifix and say “thank you!” Gratitude for the greatest gift of the Father, His only beloved son Jesus Christ, and to our Lord Himself for His obedience to the Father and His great love for us, stops the devil in his tracks. He knows he has lost the fight. As Psalm 8 exhorts us, praise foils the enemy. Seeing everything in our lives in relationship to love given and received from the Holy Trinity is the essence and source of endless gratitude. A grateful heart is a choice to be grounded and rooted in our truest identity – beloved. Everything we have been given is a reminder of the relationship of faithful love poured out for us that surpasses all understanding. To see and express gratitude, to delight in life just as it is, knowing that it is given as a gift from the Father who loves us and is worthy of our trust, anchors us in and is the fruit of the call to relationship with Him that He has imprinted on each of our hearts.
So the next time you are feeling low and looking down (because we all do from time to time), lift your head and ask the Holy Spirit to help you say “thank you” one gift at a time. Ask Jesus what gift He wants to draw out of you in this circumstance or that situation. Give Him permission to give YOU as the gift you were created to be. The desire that we remain in Him as He remains in us begins with gratitude. He promises “whoever remains in me, and I in Him, will bear much fruit.” Joy is the fruit of abiding heartbeat to heartbeat with the one who loves us and only knows how to give good gifts. As this becomes the song in our own hearts, His heart beats with delight that His “joy may be in you and your joy may be complete” (John 15:11).
