Street of First Doctrine
32. What Is Thanksgiving?
Street of First Doctrine: first Catholic doctrine for souls learning how to believe, pray, and live.
"In all things give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning all." - 1 Thessalonians 5:18
Thanksgiving is the act by which the soul gives thanks to God for His gifts, mercies, corrections, protections, and graces. A beginner must learn thanksgiving because fallen man easily receives gifts and forgets the Giver.
The catechism answer is simple: Thanksgiving is grateful prayer offered to God for all His benefits, especially creation, redemption, , forgiveness, the , and hope of heaven.
Gratitude keeps the soul from , complaint, and forgetfulness.
The question is not only, "What do I need?" It is also, "What have I received?"
The ungrateful soul notices burdens more quickly than blessings. It complains against Providence, compares itself to others, and treats mercy as ordinary.
Thanksgiving wakes the soul. It teaches the Christian to see that every good thing comes from God.
God gives existence, breath, time, family, food, shelter, truth, correction, , , forgiveness, and every help toward salvation.
Even when life contains suffering, the soul has received more than it can measure. Above all, God has given His Son.
The Cross is the greatest reason for thanksgiving because by it the sinner is redeemed.
The soul should thank God after receiving help. The Gospel shows ten lepers cleansed, but only one returned to give thanks.
This warning is severe. Many receive mercy and do not return.
The Christian should thank God for answered prayers, avoided sins, strength in , confession, Mass, family mercies, daily bread, and the quiet helps often noticed only later.
After confession, thanksgiving is especially fitting. The sinner has received , restoration, healing, and peace through the mercy of Christ.
The penitent should not leave confession careless and empty-minded. He should thank God, perform his , and resolve .
Forgiveness should produce gratitude, not forgetfulness.
Thanksgiving after Holy Communion is one of the most important practices of Catholic life. When properly disposed, the soul has received Our Lord Himself.
The time after Communion should not be wasted in distraction. The soul should adore, thank, love, ask, and offer itself.
If a beginner does not know what to say, he can say simply: "My Lord and my God, I thank Thee. Make me faithful."
Thanksgiving in suffering does not mean pretending pain is pleasant. It means trusting God even when the cross is heavy.
The soul can thank God for to endure, for purification, for hidden protection, for the chance to unite suffering with Christ, and for the hope that God wastes nothing offered to Him.
Such thanksgiving is difficult, but it is very pleasing to God.
Complaint easily becomes a habit. It makes the soul sour, restless, and blind to mercy.
Some correction is lawful. A person may speak truth about evil, injustice, suffering, or danger. But constant murmuring against Providence is not holy.
Thanksgiving helps the soul speak truth without becoming bitter.
A beginner can practice thanksgiving simply. Each night, before examining , he can name three mercies from the day.
They may be small: a resisted, a meal, a duty completed, a correction received, a kind word, a safe journey, a prayer remembered, or a sin avoided.
The soul trained in gratitude becomes more attentive to .
The soul must learn that every good gift comes from God.
The soul must learn to return after receiving mercy.
The soul must learn thanksgiving after confession and Communion.
The soul must learn gratitude even under the Cross.
The soul must learn to resist the habit of complaint.
Thanksgiving is grateful prayer offered to God for all His benefits, especially creation, redemption, , forgiveness, the , and hope of heaven.
A beginner should ask: Do I thank God daily? Do I notice mercy? Do I give thanks after confession and Communion? Do I complain more than I pray? Do I thank God even when the cross remains?
The grateful soul remembers. It receives the gifts of God with and returns to the Giver with love.