Gratitude (Saturday, Week 9, Year 1, 2021)

-

Having accomplished his mission, when it was time for Angel Raphael to leave, Tobit and his family responded in gratitude (cf. Tobit 12:1.5-15.20). It was within the context of show of appreciation that the angel fully revealed himself as one of the seven holy angels (messengers of God) who present the prayers of the people and enter into the presence of the glory of God. The angel reminded Tobit of all the good things he (Tobit) had done and admonished him and his family to continue to live a life of gratitude.

 

Gratitude is an attitude of the heart but not locked up in the heart. It must always be expressed. A grateful person must be consumed with love: love for God and love for his neighbour. Tobit’s acts of love and generosity were powerful testimonies to his life of gratitude. Despite the difficulties he faced, he still gave thanks to God by living righteously and generously. No matter how difficult life is to us, we cannot deny the fact that God has been so good to us. And the best response we can give is a response of gratitude.

 

When we give thanks, we don’t count our millions before God, we count our blessings which come from Him. Gratitude is not an empty show of wealth but a humble response to the love and generosity of God. It must spring from the heart. A grateful person is not known by large sums of money, but known for the largeness of his heart: a heart large enough to accommodate the others and think about God. Yes, the poor widow was not wealthy in her money bag but she was wealthy in the heart. That is why Christ singled her out and praised her (cf. Mark 12:38-44).

 

How grateful am I? How wealthy is my heart? What more can I do to show God that I am grateful? Just like the poor widow, am I ready to give God all my heart, to give Him everything I have in response to His love, mercy and generosity towards me? I am not mandated to go to the Church and drop sums of money into the offertory box in order to show how grateful I am. The fragrance of a grateful heart must not only be perceived in the Church. Neighbours must also have a share of it.

 

Prayer:

Lord, you’ve been so good to us . May we always respond in gratitude, Amen!


Have a restful weekend!



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Gifts versus the Giver (Monday, Week 20, Year II)

-
Image
A gift, by the virtue of what it is, is given. In other words, there must be a giver. Gift can come or be in the form of a good friendship or relationship, material thing, good job, personal talent, and so on. Every cherished gift is the delight of our eyes, the pride of our power and the desire of our souls. The gifts that we possess should then remind us of the giver. It smacks of arrogance and ingratitude when gifts are used without acknowledging or making reference to the giver. For the Jews, the Temple or Sanctuary was the delight of their eyes, the pride of their power and the desire of their souls. It was a precious gift which they jealously guarded. However, they adorned the Sanctuary but did not truly adore the One for whom the Sanctuary exists. They were too attached to the “gift” (sanctuary) but were completely detached from the Giver of the gift – from Yahweh. Ezekiel prophesied to them that this sanctuary which was their delight will be profaned and taken away from them. M
Read more

Persecution and Triumph, the Two Realities of Christian life (Saturday, Week 33, Year 2, The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary)

-
Image
The book of Revelation is full of symbols and imageries that need to be carefully interpreted for us to understand the message they communicate. In today’s first reading (cf. Rev. 11:4-12), John was told about two olive trees and two lamp stands serving as witnesses to the Holy One. Who or what do these two sets of witnesses (olive trees and lamp stand) stand for? When we read further in order to understand what happened to these two witnesses, it may be a bit clear to us that the “two witnesses” may be pointing to Moses and Elijah, judging from what they did on earth and what they stand for. Moses stands for the Law; and Elijah stands for the Prophet. Anyone who bears witness as Moses bore witness to the Law of God must be persecuted by the beast as the first reading (from the Book of Revelation) recounted. Anyone who bears witness to the messages of truth as Elijah and other prophets did must be persecuted just as the prophets were persecuted. Persecution is a fate that awaits every
Read more

Enkindle the Embers of Unity, Quench the Fire of Disunity (Wednesday, Week 22, Year A)

-
Image
For some time now, we have heard Paul talk about the spiritual and the unspiritual: what it means to live and operate on the level of the Spirit (the spiritual) and on the level of the flesh (the unspiritual). Paul was very emphatic about this topic possibly because he was addressing a group of people who were too intellectual and academic in their approach to the things of God and all of that. Remember that the Corinthians were Greek; and the ancient Greeks were known to be too particular and more interested in intellectualism, sophistry, philosophy and human wisdom. And we must not forget that Paul has been very suspicious of over-reliance on worldly/human wisdom in understanding and appreciating the things of the Spirit. To rely more on human/worldly wisdom is a sign that one may be operating on the level of the flesh; and to operate on the level of the flesh breeds a whole lot of vices such as division or sectionalism, hedonism, and so on. In today’s section of that letter to the C
Read more