The Face of Mercy / Daniel Conway

Gratitude and hard work are pillars of the spiritual life

“Joy springs from a grateful heart. Truly we have received much. So many graces. So many blessings. And we rejoice in this. It will do us good to think back on our lives with the grace of remembrance. Gratitude and hard work. These are two pillars of the spiritual life. Perhaps we need to ask ourselves: Are we good at counting our blessings?” (Pope Francis, New York City, on Sept. 24, 2015)

November is a time of thanksgiving. We begin the month with grateful remembrance on Nov. 1 of All Saints, the holy women and men (known and unknown) whose closeness to God inspires us and shows us the way to Jesus. On Nov. 2, we remember All Souls, those who have died and are waiting to be united with Christ forever.

Toward the end of November—this year on Nov. 28—our country observes a national holiday dedicated to giving thanks for all the blessings we have received as a nation. On this day, we are invited to set aside all the things that divide us as a people and to be united in our gratitude for the freedoms we cherish and the opportunities we have to make our society more caring, just and peaceful for all.

“The Christian life is above all the grateful response to a generous Father,” Pope Francis said on June 27, 2018, during a reflection on the Ten Commandments. “Gratitude is a characteristic trait of the heart visited by the Holy Spirit; to obey God we must first remember his benefits.” Quoting St. Basil the Great, the pope added: “Whoever does not let those benefits fall into oblivion is oriented toward good virtue and to every work of justice.”

During the same reflection, Pope Francis suggested that all of us ask ourselves in the silence of our hearts, “How much has God done for me? How many beautiful things has God done for me?” He also encouraged us to remember “how generous is our heavenly Father!”

When he was in the United States in September of 2015, Pope Francis described gratitude and hard work as “pillars of spirituality.” The connection between these two virtues is significant.

Gratitude is never indolent. It does not take God’s blessings for granted or assume that we are entitled to everything we receive from God’s bounty. On the contrary, grateful Christians are keenly aware that God’s grace is undeserved and unmerited. We work not to earn God’s grace, but to do our part as stewards responsible for taking care of, and sharing, the material and spiritual gifts we have received as grateful beneficiaries of God’s bounty.

Referencing the Book of Exodus, when the Israelites were brought first through the Red Sea before reaching Mount Sinai, where Moses received the Ten Commandments, the pope said God’s will is never accomplished by means of human effort—although we certainly have a role to play as instruments of God’s creative, redemptive and sanctifying will. God’s will is accomplished when we steward his gifts gratefully and work hard to make sure that his will, not ours, is carried out.

“Christian formation is not based on willpower, but on the acceptance of salvation, on letting oneself be loved,” the Holy Father said. “The reason that a Christian’s good works may fail or be ineffective is because instead of starting from the love of the Father, or from gratitude, he or she begins from themselves.”

One of the most consistent themes of Pope Francis’s service as the Bishop of Rome has been “joy.” Without joy, Christian life is cold and dreary. Gratitude warms the heart and gives life to both the giver and the receiver of God’s generosity.

Let’s ask ourselves during this season of thanksgiving how good we are at counting our blessings. How much has God done for us? How many beautiful things has God done for us? How effective are we at taking care of, and sharing, all God’s gifts out of gratitude and love? How hard have we worked at building just and loving communities—by the power of God’s grace—in our homes, our neighborhoods and our world?

Let’s pause for a moment and do a gratitude inventory. When we count our blessings, what do we have to be thankful for? Do we hide our gratitude out of a false sense of entitlement, of self-sufficiency? Or can we be truly joyful because of a grateful heart?
 

(Daniel Conway is a member of The Criterion’s editorial committee.) †