Meister Eckhart was a Dominican priest who was born in the 13th century in what is present-day Germany, but at the time it was a part of the Holy Roman Empire. He is most well-known in our modern world for this quote: “If the only prayer we ever say in our entire lives is ‘thank you’ that will be enough.” I love this quote, because if we don’t have thanksgiving in our hearts, how can we even begin to pray to God? Thanksgiving is an important part of who we are as Christians, isn’t it? This is evident today as our nation celebrates Thanksgiving, as we celebrate this national holiday at Mass today, giving thanks to the Lord out of the depths of our faith. Our Catholic faith calls us to have a joyful heart, to see the blessings we have in life, and to have a heart full of gratitude.
Unfortunately, it seem that our secular world mirrors the reality of our Gospel today. Nine of the lepers did not return to Jesus to give thanksgiving for having been healed. Only one leper, an outsider, returned to give thanks. In our modern world, it seems that many also do not give thanks for the blessings that they have in life.
Every day, I give thanks when I wake up in the morning as a part of my daily prayers. I thank God for those whom I serve in my parish here at St Jude and for all of the faithful Catholics here in our Diocese. I thank him for calling me to serve him and his people as a priest. I thank him for all of my blessings. Is this allows easy? No, it is not always easy. Even though I am a priest, the reality of my life is not always peaches and cream, as one of my parishes pointed out to me one day. That was a kind way of putting it.
No, giving thanks is not always easy for us. Sometimes giving thanks takes a lot of effort. Sometime it requires us to focus and pay close attention to the tiny little details of what is going on around us. Sometimes it requires us to open our eyes and to snap ourselves out of our complacency. Sometimes it requires us to move out of our own perspective and our own point of view. Sometimes it requires us to get past our hurts, our pain, and our anger. Sometimes it requires us to make space in our lives and to let go.
God is good. His love endures forever. His mercy endures forever. For God, for his creation, for so many things, let us give thanks today.
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