WE are familiar with that part of the gospel where ten lepers approached Christ begging for healing, and they were healed, but only one of them had the fine detail of going back to Christ to thank him, which made Christ very happy, of course. (cfr. Lk 17,11-19)
To be sure, Christ would not mind if he was not thanked for what he did to the 10 lepers. Christ, the very personification of love—a love lived in the context of our limitations and sinfulness—would just do things for others completely gratuitously, without expecting any return. He would gain nothing if he is thanked.
But what he would rather mind is when the recipients of his favors would not be thankful since they would sooner or later be spoiled by Christ’s goodness. To be thankful is meant more for the good of the recipient of God’s favors than for God himself.
Indeed, to be thankful to God can only deepen our spiritual connection and relationship with him. Knowing how easily we can be separated from God, it would be good if we are always thankful to him for whatever favor received from him, even if we consider them as small and ordinary, like being able to wake up in the morning from sleep.
To be thankful to God would also enable us to see life’s many blessings more clearly. We know very well that we always have the strong tendency to take these blessings for granted, and even going to the extent that God has the obligation to give us these blessings.
To be thankful to God also would foster humility and help us to acknowledge our abiding dependence on him. There is no doubt whatsoever that we always tend to think that we can simply be on our own. We only go to God when we find ourselves helpless in some difficult situations.
The duty to be thankful should also be done with the others, since this would strengthen our relationship with them. Let’s remember that we are meant always to be in relation with others. We should not simply be on our own since that would contradict the very nature of our humanity.
Besides, when we are always thankful to others for whatever favor they give us, we would actually foster more positive interactions and a supportive environment. It would minimize our tendency to be judgmental of others, especially because we cannot deny that we will always have differences and even conflicts among ourselves.
In the end, the virtue of gratitude promotes greater well-being among ourselves and generates an atmosphere of positivity, especially these days when with all the confusing developments around, we are often tempted to fall into negative and critical thoughts.
Let’s hope that we can take this business of being thankful always 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 and with others while we explore and navigate our now complicated and challenging world!
