A Grateful Person Cherishes God

Mosaic in the Basilica of the Rosary, Lourdes, France.
via Wikipedia

In June, 1959, I visited the Shrine of Our Lady at Lourdes, France for the first time.  As I walked into the main church, named Our Lady of the Rosary, my eyes caught sight of the great number of markings on its walls.  Each tile plaque, about the size of a car’s license plate, had one large world written on it . . . “Merci” (the French word for Thanks!)  Underneath this was the name of a person or family and a date at the bottom.

These plaques covered the walls from the floors to almost the ceilings.  Through the intercession of Mary, people in need had received favors from God.  In their gratitude they wished to return thanks for Mary’s help in a public way.  All these markings of “Merci” impressed me with Mary’s power and willingness to help us in our desperate times.  I saw too, how gratitude was a fitting response to these favors given.  Through the Rosary, miracles of healing had come to all these people.  In all my pilgrimages to Lourdes, the “Merci’s” always overwhelmed me!

In fantasy, how well for us if we could cover the walls of our home with similar marks of our gratitude for blessings received.  Some of these could read: “For our first born child”, “For healing from pneumonia”, “For rescue from financial crisis”, “An escape from addiction to drugs”.  What a blessed home we would have!  God would look down from Heaven and say, “There is a house of gratitude.  I will bless it in a hundred different ways because grateful people live in it.”

When I moved into my apartment after leaving Our Lady of the Snows, the curtains in my kitchen had a colorful design on the bottom, shown with a loaf of bread and a pitcher of milk and the words, “Give us this day our daily bread.”  As I would sit and eat my meals just a few feet away, these words cried out to me, “Be conscious of where your food comes from.  Give thanks!”  Perhaps our meal prayers have fallen by the wayside.  Be a prophet in your home!  God takes on a more precious relationship when we express gratitude for all the gifts of life.

What pleasant sounding words, “merci”, “thanks”.  Use them often in our daily living, “Please pass the butter, Thanks!” – especially to those who serve us: doctors, waitresses, nurses, store clerks.  My favorite prayer of gratitude is, “Thank You, Lord”.  I used this often when I would make a good shot in golf.  Grateful people bring happiness into their lives by recognizing the number of blessings around them.  Thanks for this day, my family, my friends, my health!

On one occasion, Jesus gave perfect health to ten unclean lepers!  Only one of them came back to thank Him!  The other nine forgot His kindness.  Will we take His graciousness for granted?  Make this forthcoming week a memorable one for yourself and all you meet.  Start each day with a prayer of thanksgiving for another chance, and end each day with a prayer of thanksgiving for all the miracles of the day.

            Fr. George Mc Kenna