One of the first lessons in life that we learned is to say thank you. When we receive candy, our parents would always remind us, “What will you say?” We get a toy for our birthday, our parent would always remind us, “What will you say?” In school, we were taught to say, “Goodbye and Thank you,” to our teacher.
Sadly, as we grew older, we forget to say thank you: We have someone who serves us food in a restaurant, we take it for granted that it is his job to serve us; We have a teacher who sacrifices a lot, we take it for granted that it is her job to teach us; We receive so much from our parents, we take it for granted that it is their obligation to provide for us.
My dear friends, the first reading shows us Naaman being grateful for his healing. In the second reading, St. Paul reminds us to be grateful to God for giving his only Son. In the Gospel, sadly of the ten who were healed, only one said thank you.
Hence, this is something worth reflecting about gratitude and three points:
- All is Grace. Let us remember that all we have is a blessing. We may say that we inherited this or we work hard for this, but it is still a blessing. Bottom line, we came into this world with nothing and we are leaving this world with nothing. So whatever we have is only lent to us. Also, talking about blessing, we must remember that there is a time to hold on and a time to let go.
- Count your blessings. One reason that we forget to thank others is that we count other people’s blessings. When we do this, we get lonely. Also, envy sinks in. Eventually, we forget to appreciate what God has given us until we lose it. Only then do we regret not being grateful.
- Be Grateful even in the Storms of Life. This may be hard but very, very helpful. When we experience tragedy, we even blame God, “Why me?” We must remember that God is good and everything happens for a reason and purpose. When experiencing the typhoons of life just be hopeful and persevere. God’s promise, “I will never leave you nor abandon you.”
That is why in this Mass we pray for a grateful heart. Whether in plenty or simplicity, grateful people are always happy people.
3 Ways 2 Your 1 God 