Someone once said that saying ‘Thank You’ is more than good manners, it is great spirituality. I remember one afternoon when I asked a friend to come with me to buy something.  Looking proudly at what I bought, I said, ‘Great!’ as I felt very happy. My friend on the other hand, beamingly smiled and with her hands clasped together, she said, ‘Thank you, Jesus’.

My heart skipped a beat while I looked at her. At that moment, I felt a different kind of humiliation. While I may have read hundreds of spiritual articles, attended regular retreats and understands the Church’s doctrines more than her, she spontaneously articulated, in her manners and in her simple words, what mature spirituality is all about. Hers was a grateful heart, mine was a proud one.

When someone dear to us gets sick, we bend our knees for however long we can, begging God for healing. When something goes wrong in our jobs or businesses, how quickly we bow our heads and ask God to help us get through the difficulties and challenges. When relationships are in turmoil, how fervent do we pray and sometimes, even offering some bargaining deals with God. Yet, when we receive graces, we simply say, God is great and sometimes never feel the same intensity and passion and closeness to God as when we were begging for those graces. Most often, we feel good about ourselves and how great we are, forgetting that we are just caretakers  – everything that we have belongs to God.

As we continue to mature in our relationship with God and as we deepen and widen our spiritual journey, let us ask for that special grace of having a grateful heart. If saying ‘Thank You’ is a hallmark of great spirituality, let us then make it a constant part of our daily lives as we speak the language of faith – and that is – recognising God in the tiniest and biggest of blessings that we receive. The way we live our lives is and should be an expression of ‘Thanksgiving.