The Absolute Necessity of Saying "Thank You"

When was the last time you told God “thank you”? We live in an
extremely hectic world, full of distractions, complaining, and
longing for things we don’t have. And while it can be good to look
at the things we do have and count up our blessings, how often do
we then turn to God and thank him for those gifts? God is the
reason we have anything in this life. Even our very existence
day-to-day is a gift. There’s nothing better than thankfulness—and
nothing worse than unthankfulness. We can all point out moments in
our lives where we failed to be thankful, and it often leads to
general feelings of unhappiness. So how do we stop feeling this
way? How do we practice thankfulness more? There’s a simple
solution: every morning and evening, ask the Holy Spirit to help
you count your blessings, and then thank the Lord for all those
gifts. St. Paul echoes this in his letter to the Thessalonians,
saying that we should give thanks in everything we have and
everything we are able to do. It’s what we are called to do as
Christians, and it’s how we can reverence God and all he’s given us
every day. The person who continually gives thanks is a person who
is seeking God’s plan in their life. And one of the greatest gifts
that comes from this attitude of gratitude is that every day
becomes an opportunity to use those blessings. The celebration of
the Mass is a very specific way we can express this gratitude
towards God. The word Eucharist literally means “thanksgiving”!
It’s in the Mass that we profess our love for Christ’s sacrifice,
and thank him by performing a like sacrifice with the body and
blood. We can go to Mass every day, and we can give thanks every
day. And the beautiful thing about gratitude is that, the more we
practice it, the more God will reveal blessings around us. Do you
seek authentic joy for the life you’re living? Practice
thanksgiving towards God.