Walking with St. Paul Seven Ways to be a Paul-bearer, Part VI

Aug 11, 2008

The sixth way to be a Paul-bearer this Jubilee Year is to live a life marked by an attitude of thanksgiving.  St. Paul was formed by the Old Testament scriptures which were infused with a spirit of thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving was the corporate response to the presence of God in Solomon’s Temple (2 Chron. 7:3), and the battle-cry of the Levites, who went before the Israelites into war (2 Chron 7:6).  In addition to being at the forefront of temple worship and warfare - thanksgiving is the continuous cry of the psalmist’s prayer (7:17; 9:1; 28:7; 30:12; 54:6; 86:12; 109:30; 118:28, among others). 

St. Paul identifies “thanks” as one of two things that depraved humanity refused to give to God (Rom. 1:21).  It is a matter of justice (giving God his due), and essential to our humanity to express thanks and praise to God.  When we don’t our minds and hearts become darkened.  We begin to lose our humanity and act like animals. 

When one truly understands the gift of God in Christ, continuous thanksgiving seems the only adequate response.  St. Paul had apprehended this truth, and his life was marked by a spirit of thanksgiving. He not only commands Christians to give thanks (Col. 1:12; 3:17; 1 Thess. 5:18), but he modeled it in his life and letters. In fact, one of the key parts of St. Paul’s correspondence was to express his “thanks” to both God and his fellow believers (Rom. 6:17; 7:25; 1 Cor. 1:4; 15:57; 2 Cor. 2:14; 9:15; 1 Thess. 1:3; 2 Thess. 2:13). 

During this Pauline Jubilee, let us make a special effort, in both word and deed, to be thankful people.  Consider making the first words you say to God upon rising a simple “thank you.”  Let this be your last expression as you end your day.  Bookending your day with thanksgiving can be the beginning of influencing everything between those two moments - offering your whole day as a “thanksgiving offering.” 

Living a life of thanksgiving is also tied to the liturgy.  Behind the Greek word for “thanks” is something much more profound than simple gratitude.  The Greek root of thanksgiving - is eucharistia.  The Cross becomes the consummate thanksgiving offering to the Father in the Spirit, which we celebrate every time we gather for Mass.  Therefore, one of the ways we can to live a life of profound thanks is to more frequently and actively participate in the liturgy.  In it, we offer Christ to the Father, along with our thanks for His work.  The act of love on the Cross both humbles and emboldens the Christian heart.  It invites a corresponding love because “he first loved us” (1 John 4:19).  We become a eucharistic people when we offer ourselves as a “thanks” to God, for the thanksgiving offering of His Son.