As we embrace these difficult times, we are committed to our mission to be the compassionate presence of Jesus to one another. We remember that Jesus called for people to love their neighbors as themselves. Jesus recognizes the importance of love of self, which is expressed through caring for oneself. This invites each of us to reflect on how we care for ourselves. One way to care for self is through practices of gratitude. This is an opportunity to learn more about gratitude as a means of extending the compassionate caring of Jesus and then engage in at least one of the practices below to express and deepen gratitude.

Extending the compassionate caring of Jesus calls for gratitude.

At Jesus’s Last Supper, he gave thanks for bread and wine, fruits of the earth and works of human hands. (Matthew 26:26-27; Mark 14:22-23; Luke 22:17-19)

• His followers remember this in celebrations referred to as Eucharist, Greek for “Thanksgiving.” (For more on Eucharist, see Pope Francis, Laudato Si’, #236)

• These accounts of the Last Supper describe this as a Passover celebration, remembering with gratitude when God led the Hebrews out of slavery in Egypt.

• Contemporary Passover celebrations give thanks for God’s saving activity with the song Dayenu.

The Catholic Health Association invites prayers of Thanksgiving:

• A Thanksgiving Prayer

• A Prayer Before a Meal

The Greater Good Science Center provides:

• background on the definition, motivations and practices of gratitude from positive psychology

  • What is Gratitude?

  • Why Practice it?

  • How to Cultivate it

• better understanding of the role of gratitude in self-care

  • Why Gratitude is Good

  • The Benefits of Gratitude (10-minute video with Robert Emmons)

  • Is Gratitude Good for your Health?

  • How Gratitude Changes You and Your Brain

Practices to Express and Deepen Gratitude

• As we prepare for Thanksgiving, before one meal each day give thanks for the food that nourishes you. Pope Francis invites one to give thanks to God before and after meals as an expression of gratitude for God’s creation (Laudato Si’, #227)

• At the first Thanksgiving, the pilgrims gave thanks to God for surviving a difficult year. (See Robert Emmons, “How Gratitude Can Help You Through Hard Times”). Take time each day to reflect on the gifts of the day that you received amidst the challenges of COVID-19.

Allow these practices to contribute to “an attitude of the heart…which accepts each moment as a gift from God to be lived to the full” (Pope Francis, Laudato Si’, #226)