We have been blessed. God has given us so much. Even in the many things that concern us not being
the way that we would like them to be, what God has given us far outweighs what we are lacking. A
thankful heart is a happy heart. Thankfulness comes when we become aware that what God has
blessed us with, revolves around circumstances over which we have had little or no control: the
country that we live in, the family that helped raise us, the people that God has brought into our lives
and the many circumstances, the most important being the gift of life itself.
What could be our response besides being very grateful? God wants us to “pay it forward” bringing it
to the world.
Father Dan Shutte tells a story of a teacher who at the end of the course asks each student to come
up before the class as she would speak of the ways this student had made a difference in her life. She
then gave each student three ribbons saying that he or she had been blessed and asked them to pass
it forward to three others. One student gave a ribbon to a friend and asked him to pass the other two
ribbons to others. This friend presented a ribbon to his demanding boss who then thought he should
give a ribbon to his son whom he had been neglecting. When his son received the ribbon he could
not stop crying. That night he was planning to commit suicide feeling that nobody cared whether he
lived or died.
- Who are the people in your life of whom you are grateful?
- How could you show your thanks?
- Could you ask them to pass it forward?
O God, help me find ways to express my gratefulness.