"Let
us not be unfair to God and to Our Lady. If we succeed, and if our undertakings
our flourishing, we owe it entirely to God and to our good Mother. We would be
guilty of ingratitude if we attributed to ourselves the success of any
enterprise. We would also make ourselves undeserving of God’s help." – St
John Bosco
Gospel Text: (LK 10:17-24)
The seventy-two disciples returned rejoicing and said to Jesus,
The seventy-two disciples returned rejoicing and said to Jesus,
“Lord,
even the demons are subject to us because of your name.”
Jesus
said, “I have observed Satan fall like lightning from the sky.
Behold,
I have given you the power
‘to
tread upon serpents’ and scorpions
and
upon the full force of the enemy
and
nothing will harm you.
Nevertheless,
do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you,
but
rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”
At
that very moment he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said,
“I
give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for
although you have hidden these things
from
the wise and the learned
you
have revealed them to the childlike.
Yes,
Father, such has been your gracious will.
All
things have been handed over to me by my Father.
No
one knows who the Son is except the Father,
and
who the Father is except the Son
and
anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”
Turning
to the disciples in private he said,
“Blessed
are the eyes that see what you see.
For
I say to you,
many
prophets and kings desired to see what you see,
but
did not see it,
and
to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.”
St. Augustine writes: «What can we better carry in our heart, or say with our mouth, or write with the pen, than these words ‘Thanks to God’? There is nothing that can be said so briefly, nor listened to with more joy, nor make you feel with more elation, nor done with more profit». This is what we are always to do with God and our neighbor, even for those gifts we are not aware of, as St. Josemaria Escriva used to write. Gratitude towards our parents, our friends, our teachers, our pals. Towards everybody that may help us, may spur us, may serve us. And logically, gratitude also, for our Mother the Church.
Gratitude is not a very “common” or
practiced virtue, and, nevertheless, is one of the most pleasant to experiment
with. We must admit, though, that it is not an easy virtue to live with. St.
Theresa asserted: «I have such a grateful heart that I could be bribed with a
sardine». This has always been the saints' demeanor. And they have done it in
three different ways, as St. Thomas Aquinas pointed out: first, through the own
awareness of the benefits received; secondly, by praising God externally with
words; and, thirdly, by trying to pay back our benefactor with deeds, depending
upon our own capabilities.
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