Three more days in the Ignatian Year, and a look at gratitude and its opposite. St Ignatius was hyper-critical of ingratitude, thinking it “the cause, beginning, and origin of all evils and sins.”
I was not raised with good schooling in gratitude. My parents saw it as a natural virtue, not a learned or cultivated one. It wasn’t until I began ministry in my thirties that I began to seriously work on it, first in my parish service, and later amongst friends and family. I wish I had expressed thanksgiving more when I was younger.
The Jesuit Adrian Porter composed this prayer:
We thank you, God our Father,
for the shelter and comfort of our homes;
for the love and companionship of our family and friends;
for our health, and our many gifts and abilities;
and for all the blessings which we take for granted.
Hear our prayer for all who are less fortunate than we are
and bless those who work to help them.
For Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen.
Catholic Sensibility 