DEO GRATIAS!

 A REFLECTION FOR THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY

As we celebrate the feast of the Immaculate Conception today, we run the risk of ignoring one of the most important Sunday Gospels of the year.  So please give it the attention it deserves by following it in your missal as it’s read at the end of today’s Mass.  It’s the story of the healing of the ten lepers.  All ten are cured of their disease but only one comes back to our Lord to thank him properly.  The message of course is about gratitude, that we should offer our own thanks to God regularly and with heartfelt sincerity.

 

In this country, we have a special day set aside for this purpose, the Thursday of Thanksgiving in the month of November.  But really, is one day out of 365 sufficient to express the gratitude that is owed to the Lord our God for all the things he has given to us?  If truth be told, we should be on our knees every minute of the day expressing our appreciation for his love and for every good thing that has proceeded from this love.  But of course, we have other things to do, far less important certainly, but which nevertheless have to be prioritized because of our duties of life.  So let’s make it a point to say thank you to God whenever we do have a spare moment and “have nothing better to do.” 

 

At the very minimum, let’s say our Grace after Meals.  It’s called “Grace”, not because it has anything to do with grace, but because it comes from the Latin word gratias, which means “Thanks.”  This should come as no surprise, as we begin our Grace after Meals with the words “We give thee thanks, Almighty God, for these and all thy benefits which we have received from thy bounty.”  Get into the habit of saying this at the end of every meal, and make it a minimum first step towards expressing the gratitude to God that we owe him.

 

On this feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, we can find the inspiration to give thanks in the prayer of our Lady called the Magnificat.  She who had more reason than any other human being to give thanks to God, did so with all humility and in awe at the enormous privileges she had been granted by her Creator.  The clergy repeat this Canticle of the Blessed Virgin, the Magnificat, every evening at the Office of Vespers, and it would be a wonderful addition to everyone’s night-time prayers.  Here is the text of the Magnificat for those who would like to include our blessed Lady’s own Act of Thanksgiving in their own prayers:

 

My soul * ✠ doth magnify the Lord.

2  And my spirit hath rejoiced * in God my Saviour.

3  For he hath regarded the lowliness of his handmaiden: * for behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.

4  For he that is mighty hath magnified me; * (Bow your head for the rest of this verse) and holy is his Name.

5  And his mercy is on them that fear him * throughout all generations.

6  He hath shewed strength with his arm; * he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

7  He hath put down the mighty from their seat, * and hath exalted the humble and meek.

8  He hath filled the hungry with good things; * and the rich he hath sent empty away.

9  He remembering his mercy * hath holpen his servant Israel.

10  As he promised to our forefathers, * Abraham and his seed for ever.

11  Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Ghost.

12  As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, * world without end.   Amen.