From Fr. Tom,
I think it was the ancient philosopher, Socrates, who said: “Gratitude is the mother of all virtues.” I’ll bet all of us can remember being taught as a child to say “thank you” when something was given to us. Nowadays hand written thank you notes are becoming as extinct as the dinosaurs! Much of our society today is suffering from gratitude amnesia. Jesus experienced this first hand when he cured the ten lepers and only one returned to thank him. We also learn that faith increases gratitude. It is true that entitlement is the opposite of gratitude because if someone really does help us out and we expect them to do it, then why be grateful? Husbands and wives can enrich their relationship exponentially just by saying “thank you” for some little thing they’ve done a thousand times before! When co-workers express gratitude to each other, it inspires them to do more and joyfully so. Gratitude must first be taught and then nourished. Gratitude, indeed, is the mother of all virtues! Thank you, God, for everything.
