Gratitude and Gifts

Today, Sheila Walsh blogged about journaling our gratitude. I saw Sheila Walsh this summer at the Women of Faith conference, and of all the women there, she's the one I most identified with. She really touched me. Now, reading her little entry on starting a gratitude journal kind of struck me. I mean, the reason I started blogging again was because I wanted to shine light on the good things in my life. I feel like I've been really bogged down, lately, by little things (and a few big ones, I suppose) mostly, and I haven't taken the time to express how truly blessed I am. I know I'm blessed, and I thank God in prayer from time to time. But I don't ever express it to anyone else. I wonder if, perhaps, another way to glorify God would be to verbalize (or write for others to see) my appreciation for all the wonderful gifts I'm blessed with, rather than to complain so loudly about my problems?

I've got a friend (she's my age, we hung out during college) who is going through treatments for breast cancer. I happen to know that she is still single, she has no children (other than the one she gave up for adoption when she was, oh, about 19), she lost her mother when she was very young, and her father's health is not so great. I also happen to know that her cancer treatments have taken her hair as well as most of her strength--they've been very painful for her. And yet, this woman is posting on Facebook, on an almost daily basis, things she is grateful for. I, for one, am grateful for her positive attitude, her humility, and her Faith in God (which is what sparked our friendship in the first place).

I mentioned gifts in the title of today's entry. I was very impressed with the homily at this past Sunday's Mass. The priest spoke about a man (St. Jerome?) who had devoted his life to translating Biblical documents into Latin so the majority of the world could read them. (This was, obviously, many, many, many years ago.) The man finished his translation very close to or on Christmas Eve. He heard Jesus asking what he would give Jesus for His birthday--the man, pleased with himself, offered his translation of The Word. Jesus told him that's not what He wanted. After listing a bunch of other sacrifices the man was willing to make, Jesus kept saying, "No, that is not what I want for my birthday." The man finally said, "Well, what DO you want? Whatever it is, I'll gladly give it!" Jesus said, "Give me your sins." It makes sense, doesn't it? I mean, if Jesus gave His life for all of us, for all of our sins, then of course we should offer them up to Him, right? I took that to mean (and the priest elaborated on this a bit, as well) that we should not only Confess our sins and ask for forgiveness, not only should we promise to try not to repeat those sins, but we should also LET GO of those sins. The priest said we, as humans, have a hard time letting go of our sins. I think he meant that we still have lingering guilt over them, even after Absolution; but we also, in the deepest, darkest part of ourselves, know that we will likely go back and commit those same sins again.

I'm taking Lindsay to Confession tonight (I meant to go alone, but she asked if she could join me--why would I turn that down?), and I hope we can both not only make good, true Confessions, but that we can also completely let go of our sins.

Happy Birthday, Jesus! I love you!!!