Holy Gratitude

A Reflection on the Psalm for Sunday, June 16th, 2024:
Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Psalm 92

R. Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.

It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night.

R. Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.

The righteous flourish like the palm tree, and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the Lord; they flourish in the courts of our God.

R. Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.

In old age they still produce fruit; they are always green and full of sap, showing that the Lord is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

​R. Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

Thank you, Lord, that we have a Creator who understands us! 

The practice and awareness of gratitude has been growing a lot in mainstream popularity in recent years. I find it absolutely fascinating to read some of the science on how good gratitude is for our brains and overall functioning. One article I read recently tells how having a grateful state of mind increases dopamine and serotonin in our brains, which help us with motivation and having a sense of happiness. Some people take up the practice of keeping a gratitude journal to write down three things they are grateful for every night before bed. Others simply try to find something to be grateful for in difficult moments. 

Whether you tend to be more of an optimist or a pessimist, and whatever your relationship is with this “attitude of gratitude,” finding something to be grateful for is objectively good for our bodies and minds! So what does it do for our souls? 

Since God is not only aware of how things work in a human person (what with being all-knowing and all), it’s fun to remember that actually He created us this way for His own reasons and with His own plan. We know, then, that gratitude is good for us, but there are other ways that it is just objectively good as well. 

I think about my whole lifespan: from the beginning to the (yet unknown) end. And even though there have been many difficult seasons, times when things did not go the way I would have wanted, times when I couldn’t see why God was allowing something to happen, I have experienced His love and faithfulness so many times that I know that He is always, always bringing about something good. So when a day comes along when I think there may be nothing at all to be grateful for in that day, when I lift my eyes a little higher to the divine plan that is unfolding somehow, I can always move into gratitude for His mysterious goodness. He is always bringing about something beautiful through the chaos. 

In that way, I think gratitude towards God is always fitting; it’s right and just to give Him praise. The psalm for this Sunday says,“It is good to give thanks to the Lord.” He is always deserving of the little act of praise that is our gratitude. This psalm encapsulates so beautifully the dynamic of gratitude – how it is fitting because God is always good, and how it is also good for us and helps us to live a more full and healthy human life. It says: “The righteous [let’s think about being righteously grateful to God] flourish like a palm tree …. In old age, they still produce fruit; they are always green and full of sap.”

So, without necessarily taking up the Hallmark practice of the gratitude journal – which is actually a great way to dive in, if you need one! – I am praying that I can enter more fully into gratefulness towards the God Who is always good, so that I may flourish in my body, mind, and spirit, and render to God His rightful praise!




Sister Angela Burnham

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