Flocknote reflection on Gratitude

 “When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.”  GK Chesterton (1874 - 1936)

“Remember the past with gratitude, live the present with enthusiasm, look forward to the future with confidence.”  St John Paul II (1920 - 2005) 

“Gratitude is riches.  Complaint is poverty.”  Doris Day (1922 - 2019)

Some of you may have seen on Facebook that Monday was National Black Cat Appreciation Day.  I posted a photo of my black cat Mary Woodward.  There seems to be a holiday commemorating just about everything.  Some people see black cats as bad luck.  Many animal shelters say that black cats are some of the hardest animals to place in homes.  So, I think that Black Cat Appreciation Day is trying to combat that myth.  I have not had a lot of pets in my life, so when the religious education coordinator of the parish in Tupelo found this little black cat in a bush in her back yard, she decided that I needed a companion.  I have had Mary Woodward the cat for seven years now.  She and Blessing have been good company for me as a priest.  I know a lot of you have pets, so you can relate to the way pets can be members of our families.  

It is good for us to show our appreciation and gratitude. In fact, showing gratitude and giving thanks are a part of our faith.  These three quotes that I have posted above are good meditations on gratitude.  As a society, I think that sometimes we don’t show gratitude enough, that we can have a sense of entitlement and not express our thanks to others.  I mentioned at the masses last weekend how I travel to the parishes in the towns of Newton and Paulding for mass once a month.  Even though they only have that one opportunity for mass in the month, they are very grateful for that once-a-month visit.  I remember when I was pastor in Tupelo, one parishioner was very angry that I did not have mass at 8:00 on Sunday morning because I had to help out at a neighboring parish at that time, even though we had daily mass every weekday, and four other weekend masses.  That was nine masses a week we offered!  But because she liked the early Sunday morning mass and that was no longer a possibility, she expressed her anger with me with some very harsh words.  

Even though this time of pandemic has been hard on all of us, perhaps it would be good for us to count our blessings.  During these months of pandemic, even though we have been physically separated from people in a lot of ways, I give thanks for the way we have been able to connect with others in different ways.  We had never streamed our masses on Facebook prior to the pandemic.  I had never attended a Zoom meeting.  Yet, now those things are ways I connect with others.  

I give thanks for all of you, our parishioners.  I give thanks for our faith.  I give thanks for our staff and our volunteers who may ministry at our parish of St Jude possible, even during the challenges of the pandemic.

Blessings to all of you.  Have a blessed week.  Father Lincoln.