In answering these two questions, I would like to quote two paragraphs from Chapter 1 of the book The Gratitude Project edited by Jeremy Adam Smith et al.

“First, gratitude is an affirmation of goodness. We affirm that there are good things in the world, gifts and benefits we’ve received. This doesn’t mean that life is perfect; it doesn’t ignore complaints, burden, and hassles. But when we look at life as a whole, gratitude, encourages us to identify some amount of goodness in our life. It’s easy to miss the good, because we simply get used to it.

The second part of gratitude is figuring out where the goodness in our lives comes from. We recognize the sources of this goodness as being outside of ourselves.  It doesn’t stem from anything we necessarily did ourselves in which we might take pride, Sure we can appreciate positive traits in ourselves, but true gratitude, involves a humble dependence on others: we acknowledge that other people—or even higher powers, if you’re of a spiritual mind-set—have given us many gifts, big and small, to help achieve the goodness in our lives.”

As Catholics, we do believe that God, the author of life, has given us many gifts of various sizes.  The greatest gift that God has given us is the ability to love.

It is not easy to always recognize God’s love or even to love God and our neighbor- let alone our own family! At times we can become worn out, suffer fatigue, and even become grumpy with our daily life, I know at times I do.

What if we build and nurture a spirit of gratefulness as a way to recognize and thank God and our neighbors for all they provide for us- yes, even our own family!

Where most of us need help is with the execution of cultivating a spirit of gratefulness.

On this page you will find videos, activities, and exercises to help build, cultivate, and nurture a spirit of gratefulness.  You are welcome and encouraged to look at what we have to offer and determine which would best suit you. Then do it!!!

In prayer and gratitude,
Deacon Kevin Woodvine