By Fr. Roy Cimagala *
THAT gospel episode about the 10 lepers who were cleansed of
their leprosy (cfr. Lk 17,11-19) reminds us that God always expects us
to be thankful to him. To be sure, it’s not because God just wants to
be thanked always for the many favors he gives us. It is more for our
own benefit.
God does not need anything from us. What he wants is that by
being thankful to him, we learn to be with him always since we are his
children, created in his image and likeness. He wants to share his
life with us. God loses nothing if we choose not to be with him. But
without him, we are the ones who would lose everything.
A thankful heart will never be alone and sad. It recognizes
the many blessings and good things that it continues to receive. And
it knows where they come from, and also for what purpose they are
given. It will always be happy heart.
To be grateful is a necessity for us. It does us a lot of
good. It keeps alive the reality that we depend on God and others for
everything. It strengthens our intimacy with him, and our awareness
that whatever happens in our life, God is always in control.
It makes us keenly aware of the all-powerful and merciful
providence of God. With that providence, we would know that even the
dark, negative things in life have meaning and purpose. They, at
least, give excitement and beauty in life, because life, without these
elements and when it only has all things bright and rosy, would be
boring.
It keeps us humble and simple, otherwise we start inventing
things and distorting reality. It keeps our feet on the ground even as
we let our mind and heart soar to high heavens.
Gratitude forms an essential part of our relation with God.
It is the adequate response we give upon seeing the continuous
attention and care God gives us. It makes us stick to the reality of
our life. It keeps us from inventing a world unhinged from its Creator
and from others.
In short, it keeps us to be with God, which is what is
proper to us. To be ungrateful can only make the many good things God
has given us to turn sour and dangerous. It will only be a matter of
time before these blessings would spoil us.
To be always grateful should be a basic attitude to have. It
corresponds to the radical reality that we all depend on God for
everything, and in a relative way, also on others. We have to be wary
of the many things that can undermine this truth.
Let’s hope that we can take this business of being always
grateful seriously. Let’s not allow any opportunity to say ‘thank you’
to pass. And let’s see to it that we do it sincerely, coming from the
heart, avoiding the pitfall of doing it mechanically.
For this, we need to train our heart to be truly thankful,
quick to realize its basis and purpose. For sure, we would be making a
very beautiful world if we manage to be consistently grateful. We
would have an environment that is healthy and vibrant, quite immunized
to the evils of this world.
We would know how to be at home with God while we explore the world!
* Chaplain Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City
Email: roycimagala@gmail.com
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