LORD, TO WHOM SHALL WE GO?

Giving Thanks to God Is Good for Us

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“Gratitude,” claims Saint Augustine, “is the beginning of all holiness.”

Whom am I to judge the great Augustine?

What I might ask, though, is why God would even desire our thanksgiving? He certainly doesn’t need it. He doesn’t need anything. He is all-in-all.

Why, then, do the Bible, Jesus, and towering saints like Augustine exhort us to offer God our praise and gratitude?

The answer: not because God needs it, but because we do.

“Let us give thanks to the Lord our God!”

“It is right and just!”

That’s what we say at every Mass.

We need to thank God because, one, to do so, reminds us that He is a loving, omnipotent God, who revealed Himself to us through Jesus as a caring Father who cherishes His children. In a way, then, an act of gratitude is an act of faith, as we confess that all comes from God, who is over all and in all.  

Two, praising God is good for us because it keeps us humble. Our lives, our talents, our accomplishments, are all due to God. Sure, we develop them diligently, but we admit that we owe it all to the Lord. A grateful person, then, is rarely puffed up or proud, but humble. I meet so many successful, or wealthy, or powerful people who, when congratulated on their achievements, simply say, “God has been good to me.” That’s humility; that’s gratitude.

Three, thanking God is beneficial for us because, well, it brings about even more gifts from the God who is already so lovingly good to us!

My grandma used to tell me, when someone would give me money, do me a favor, or give me a gift, to make sure to thank them, not only because it is courteous, but because then they might give me more!

She was a shrewd woman! In a way that’s what our prayers of thanksgiving do for us: they move us to ask for and expect even more from God!

Finally, gratitude to God inspires us to be more aware of those who may not so dramatically or obviously enjoy God’s abundant gifts.

Funny enough, the poor usually have no trouble realizing how blessed they are by God, and are the ones eager to share the little they may have with others.  

When we are conscious of God’s gifts to us, we are aware that it all comes from Him, that we did nothing to deserve such gifts, have no right to them, and, thus, have a duty to share them with those not as fortunate.

It’s in this spirit that we approach our great national feast of Thanksgiving. I have a hunch that God enjoys that day, not because He’s an arrogant Lord who wants attention, but because He sees that we have faith that He alone is our Lord and God; that we are humble, and admit that we did nothing to deserve anything; that we need even more grace and mercy from the Lord; and, finally, that we are attentive to the needs of the poor, sick, and suffering.

A blessed Thanksgiving, everybody! Thank you for your love of Jesus and His Church.