Thanking God Ahead of Time
On November 25, 2020, we celebrated the 150th birthday of Blessed Solanus Casey, who lived out most of his ministry as a Capuchin friar in Detroit, Michigan. Bl. Solanus has famously been quoted with the phrase, “Thank God ahead of time.” Some might ask, isn’t it presumptuous to thank God for a special gift before you receive it?
We know through the theological virtue of faith that everything God gives is a gift. What He allows to happen to us could be called an opportunity for grace – an “unopened gift”, so to speak. For us to receive His grace, we have to have an attitude of receptivity and choose to open the gift. Even when He allows trials and sufferings, He gives this gift of His presence and peace.
Gratitude in Suffering
To be grateful in the face of suffering is not a pretending or a willful denial of our real experience, but a receptive focus on the true reality of God’s immense goodness. It is a hope filled with certainty that He is in control and is with us always. Gratitude lives in our eyes. What is each of us choosing to see? Let us fall on our knees and thank God for the gift to see Him, to see Truth, to see that, yes, despite the reality of evil in our world, we are united with the sacrifice of the Cross and His true presence in the Eucharist.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
May you and your loved ones be filled with His peace and joy.
As you continue to walk with our community and to live your own faith, hope, and love in the Eucharist, the Heart of the Church, know that we consider you to be a gift that God has given to us, and be assured of our prayers of gratitude for you. Every day, you are remembered in our Evening Prayers.