260th Meditation
When we begin to give heartfelt thanks to our Father, we go deeper and deeper into the reality of our existence. We discover more and more how much He has given us. Everything that we often take for granted, becomes from this perspective a reason for us to thank the Father unceasingly and joyfully, and enables us to grow in the awareness of His love for us.
In the Letter to the Colossians, St. Paul exhorts us to give thanks with joy: “Give thanks with joy to the Father who has made you able to share the lot of God’s holy people and with them to inherit the light” (Col 1:11b-12).
If we can thank Him for having created us, how much more for the fact that, in redeeming us, He “has rescued us from the ruling force of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son that he loves” (v. 13)!
If we move these words in our hearts and let them penetrate deep within us, they will bring joy. This joy, in turn, will bring forth gratitude to the Father.
Perhaps one of the reasons why we sometimes lack joy is the fact that we do not sufficiently internalise what the Father did for us in redeeming us. In reality, our heart, deep down, should be able to remain in joy and to spend each day in grateful happiness, even if we have to endure struggles and sufferings along the way.
This is not a natural joy, but a spiritual one. A purely natural joy can very easily become obscured, because it is linked to natural feelings, which fluctuate. Spiritual joy and gratitude are on another level and generate “spiritual feelings”, such as inner peace. Sometimes this joy can extend to the natural dimension, but this is not necessarily the case. For example, when a person has accepted his or her suffering for the Lord’s sake, they come to an inner peace and may even feel spiritual joy at being able to offer something to the Lord.
This is a joyful gratitude for the work of redemption, for the fact that God loves us so much; in other words, it is a spiritual joy. It can and must become constant, because we discover more and more the riches that God grants us and the extent to which He makes us sharers in His own being.
Thus, the path of gratitude leads us to a growing joy and a deeper knowledge of our Father.