When I was a young girl, my family frequented a farm produce stand down the road from my house. The produce there was beautiful, bright, and bursting forth throughout the summer and fall: Shiny red strawberries, sweet yellow corn, juicy orange muskmelons.
Tag: gratitude
Let us be thankful wherever we are
Norman Rockwell’s painting Saying Grace originally appeared on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post’s 1951 Thanksgiving issue. It soon became one of Rockwell’s most beloved works.
Always be thankful
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I speak often of gratitude as a foundation of the spiritual life; giving thanks to God and others for the remarkable gifts we receive is a hallmark of our fundamental posture of humility before the Lord.
When we acknowledge everything as a gracious gift, an undeserved grace, we can live in wonder, awe, and generosity as we contemplate the astonishing miracle of our existence.
For many, this Thanksgiving will be difficult because of COVID.Bishop Morlino had deep sense of gratitude
In the past 15 years that I’ve known Bishop Robert C. Morlino, one of the strongest memories of him is the deep sense of gratitude he showed to me and many others with whom he worked.
One of my last one-on-one conversations with him was marked by that gratitude. He thanked me for all I do as editor of the Catholic Herald and praised our paper as “one of the best” in the country. (He often told his staff at our monthly catechesis sessions that we were the best staff in the country.)
He then concluded our conversation by saying, “God love you.”
‘How Gratitude Affects Our Health” presentation in Madison
MADISON — Our […]
Is gratitude an antidote to depression?
Question: How does gratitude help me day to day? I have heard a lot about how practicing gratitude helps with depression but I don’t know how to practice it in an effective way.
Response: by William McKenna, M.S. Clinical Psychology Extern at Catholic Charities
Great question! Gratitude is a powerful antidote to depressive thoughts and feelings for a number of reasons, many of which I am sure you know.
Possessing only an abstract understanding of gratitude makes putting it into practice difficult.
Let there be gratitude — and joy!
Dear Friends,
This past Sunday’s Gospel featured a story that we all know well. The minute the “Story of the Prodigal Son” begins, we can say, “Well, I know how this ends,” and instead of paying attention, our minds might wander to one of a thousand different things.
It’s an understandable temptation, but I hope you didn’t do that, because every time we hear that familiar reading, it should be something that hits us very concretely and powerfully, because it turns out to be about you and me. It turns out that the Lord wants to say something to you and me about that reading and through that reading each time, that He has never said before.
An attitude of gratitude
It’s February, and you know what that means. The Super Bowl has been played, the Lenten Season has arrived, and many of us have forsaken our New Year’s resolutions. So called experts say that one third of us will have abandoned our 2016 goals by this point.
I’m a planner, so I usually have a few goals and resolutions for the year. There is one resolution that I will try to keep — to be more grateful. It’s a fairly simple idea, but one that is easy to put aside.
There are many reasons to thank God
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| This column is the bishop’s communication with the faithful of the Diocese of Madison. Any wider circulation reaches beyond the intention of the bishop. |
Dear Friends,
Thanksgiving is at the heart of what we do and who we are as a faithful Catholic people.
And so, while there is a great deal to be terribly concerned about in our world, in our nation, and in our own part of the country, there is also a great deal for which we each can offer our thanks to God — which is the origin and the reason for the holiday that is upon us.
On a personal level, I have a great deal for which to be thankful.
In terms of my friends and those with whom I am blessed to serve, I am just that — terribly blessed. Thanks be to God, it’s been another year of good health, and for that too, I cannot fail to be thankful.
Blessed Sacrament students raise money ‘marching’ for hunger
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| Blessed Sacrament School in Madison second grader Jayden Wijeyakulasuriya leaps joyfully past the church during the school’s recent Hunger March. (Catholic Herald photo/Kevin Wondrash) |
MADISON — “Show an Attitude of Gratitude.”
That is the theme this school year at Blessed Sacrament School in Madison.
That is the reason more than 60 first, second, and third graders laced up their running shoes and ran or walked around the school block as many times as they could.
The occasion was the annual Hunger March held recently.
Helping at home and around the world
For almost 40 years, the march has been an opportunity for students to make the Catholic values they learn part of their everyday lives.
In recent years, the Hunger March has helped many people both locally and globally.
Proceeds from the march have gone to building a well in Africa, helping a family secure the first month’s rent of an apartment, helping Our Lady of Hope Clinic in Madison — a non-profit medical group that provides primary care services to the uninsured, as well as donating to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.
Prior to the march, the students asked parents, family members, friends, and neighbors to pledge money per lap they completed.
The march begins
As the 9 a.m. start time rolled around and the inspirational music played, the students finished their stretches and warm-ups and got ready for lap number one.
The students walked as a group for the first lap.
As they completed that lap, the students busted through a Hunger March banner and then some took off running as if they’d been waiting all day to do so.