By Monica Meagher, spiritual director, Faber Center for Ignatian spirituality
Prayer of St. Ignatius, Spiritual Exercises #233
I ask the Father to give me an intimate knowledge of the many gifts I have received so that stirred to profound gratitude for all, I may become able to love and serve the Divine Majesty in all things.
“Stirred to profound gratitude.” I love that phrase – such a perfect prayer for the week of Thanksgiving. “Stirred” calls up images of standing over a pot or a bowl carefully moving and mixing ingredients so they meld into something delicious. “Stirred” is what I feel when I am moved by something so strong that touches me at the core. “Stirred up” is an energy that drives me when I am called to act. To be stirred is to be moved, mixed, touched and sent.
Now imagine being stirred to profound gratitude. Imagine the expansiveness of mind and heart that such a stirring would bring about. St. Ignatius knew gratitude was the ingredient that grounds and flavors everything — it makes all things good. This is what he taught. This stirring to profound gratitude is his gift and legacy to all of us who join him in mission and prayer.
In this season of gratitude, may we take every action to stir gratitude into everything we say and do. May St. Ignatius’s prayer be on our lips. May gratitude be the flavor of everyday and may it make all things delicious!
We give you thanks, God of abundant life, for bread, friendship and hope. With these gifts of your grace, we are nourished. With these signs of your presence, we can be faithful. Continue to nourish us, inspire us and call us that we might help make your reign more of a reality in our day.”
— by Pat Kozak and Janet Schaffran