Spiritual Perspectives
Giving God Thanks and Praise

Copyright © 2008
Gallup Independent
By Sister Mary Matthias Ward
Special to the Independent 

Thanksgiving has come and gone but we need to continue to celebrate and give thanks in words and actions. How many of us invited others to our Thanksgiving dinner?

Members, other than our own family... According to our history the first pilgrims almost starved to death. They endured lots of hardships. They knew nothing about growing crops. The Native Americans showed them how to grow and harvest the necessary crops. I find myself being grateful that the pilgrims returned the graciousness by inviting the Natives to share in their bounty on that first Thanksgiving.

The very act of thanksgiving is at the heart of our Catholic celebrations and beliefs. In each Eucharist we share, we thank our God for all the gifts God has given us.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says it like this: “The Eucharist is a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the Father, a blessing by which the Church expresses her gratitude to God for all his benefits, for all that he has accomplished through creation, redemption and sanctification. Eucharist means first of all ‘thanksgiving’;"(#1360).

As I write this I am sitting in the O’Hare airport in Chicago waiting for my flight to Albuquerque. I gave thanks and praise to God when the flight attendant announced that the Evansville plane would land at Gate G 5 and the Albuquerque plane would leave from Gate G 10. I knew I wouldn’t wander lost. How thankful I was! Do we give thanks for simple things? Recently, I listened to a speaker encouraging us to write daily just one thing for which we are grateful. Simple! What an act of blessing if only we could get into the habit of being thankful daily! I encourage us to get into the habit of doing this.

Having just led a retreat in Kentucky on Thomas Merton I found myself many times giving thanks. I began by giving thanks for this holy man, Thomas Merton, who has indeed given much to our century. In our retreat we were trying to learn contemplative living, contemplative listening, contemplative dialogue. Since many of us had rather debate or discuss, we had a problem with silence and listening. But I gave thanks to God that we desired and we made efforts to follow the principles of listening and dialogue.

Often sharing time with another, sharing a meal, all given in thanksgiving and love helps me to remain focused in sharing my gifts with others.

Coming to Kentucky to give the retreat was good timing for me. It was a blessing for which I will always be grateful. It gave me the opportunity to visit my brother who has recently been diagnosed with cancer. How thankful was I when a friend offered to drive me to the hospital, two hours away! How grateful was I for her compassion! So, it is the small everyday things for which I need to praise God. Think of the ripple effect if we were to do this.

Dr. Maya Angelou says: “I’m grateful for being here, for being able to think, for being able to see, for being able to taste, for appreciating love... for knowing that it exists in a world so rife with vulgarity, with brutality and violence, and yet love exists. I’m grateful to know that it exists.”

What a simple but profound statement!! We can go to Scripture and read passage after passage of being thankful. Paul to the Ephesians says in Chapter 1:16, “I always give thanks to God, remembering you in my prayers.”

Is it any wonder that we need to give praise and thanks to God, all the time?

Sister Mary Matthias Ward is an Ursuline Sister of Maple Mount, Ky.  She is the delegate to Bishop Thomas Olmsted for the women religious of the diocese and is the director of Sacred Heart Retreat Center. She can be reached at (505) 870-5679 or 722-6755.

This column is written by area residents, representing different faith communities, who share their ideas about bringing a spiritual perspective into our daily lives and community issues. For information about contributing a guest column, contact Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola at The Independent: (505) 863-6811 ext. 218 or lizreligion01@yahoo.com.