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Instead of stressing about blessings, Lorraine Hess explores the power gratitude has over our suffering, and its role in evangelization. 


We all agree it is important to be grateful. We also know that a healthy diet and frequent exercise help us in our quest to lose weight. Some things are easier said than done. Often, we are stressing about our blessings: our jobs, our children, our spouse, and other good things that we take for granted.

A few years ago in Confession, my penance was to go to the Adoration chapel and write down all my blessings. That was the longest penance I had ever been given! I took pen and journal in hand and started writing. I wrote for 45 solid minutes, breaking only to give my hand a rest. The priest helped me realize that if I focus on my blessings, I just might move out of the lane of self-pity. Mission accomplished, Padre! The lane of gratitude is a choice that requires we grab the mental steering wheel, put on our blinker, and change lanes.    

Gratitude has power. I am not referring to gratitude for all the ways our lives are thriving. It is easy to thank God for good health, friends, a roof over our head, and food on the table. I am specifically referring to gratitude in our suffering. 

Saint Paul writes, “In all circumstances, give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18.) One might contemplate this verse and want to ask Saint Paul, “Really? In all circumstances? In my illness, loss of job, death of a loved one, divorce, infertility, loneliness?”

Yes. Like diet and exercise, Saint Paul speaks a difficult but guaranteed truth. The two verses before that are, “Rejoice always.” and “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:16, 17). They are integral to giving thanks in all circumstances. Remember, Paul wrote this in prison. Can we grasp the power of these words when we know the author himself was suffering? 

 

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How does gratitude have power?   

We know negativity has power. Our news is full of stories about violence, racism, political unrest, and natural disasters, because it grabs out attention like a neon light in a dark alley. We are sucked into its darkness, and it pulls us down like gravity, causing anxiety and depression. The news media does not get good ratings from stories about puppies and cookies!  

Gratitude, on the other hand, releases dopamine in the brain, giving us the mental capacity to tackle our problems through healthier means. When I think about people in my life whose faith I admire the most, they are people who carried their crosses with grace, with trust in the Lord, with thanksgiving. When we witness someone going through a difficult time with such gratitude, it’s infectious. We can actually evangelize more powerfully when we are suffering than when all is well, because others will witness our love of God and be drawn to a deeper faith life themselves. Every cross we receive, therefore, is an opportunity for evangelization.  

I have learned through my own experience and the witness of others that happiness doesn’t make us grateful; gratitude makes us happy. 

 

Trace a blessing back to a cross  

Luke 17:11-19 is the gospel story of Jesus curing the ten lepers, yet only one returned to thank him. If you were to write a prequel to that story, you'd write that at some point they contracted the dreadful disease. This meant they could no longer work, worship in synagogue, or live with their families. Imagine losing your job, your church, your family, and soon your life. Yet this disease also put them on a path to meeting the Messiah and experiencing a miracle. Their story, to this day, has revealed the glory of God to millions. Their illness had a purpose unknown to them at the time.  

Hindsight is twenty/twenty. When difficulties come, we cannot see into the future and predict what blessings might come because of our suffering. I am in no way suggesting that God causes our suffering; I am confident, though, that God allows good to come from it if we trust. A child born with Down Syndrome can teach a family to love in unimaginable ways. An illness can inspire a faith conversion. The anxiety of an unplanned pregnancy can lead to immeasurable joy at a mother’s first sight of her newborn. 

 

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Saint Paul was spot on. God knows how our brains are hardwired to release chemicals that are good for our mental health when we are grateful. God is way ahead of our circumstances and already knows the blessings that are to come if we stay close to Him and pray without ceasing. Our temptation is to ask God “Why?” but perhaps our prayer should be, “How can I glorify You in this moment?” Gratitude gives us the power to rejoice always, to find joy in our suffering, and to live in hope for the blessings that are to come.   

 

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Copyright 2024 Lorraine Hess
Images: Canva