An energetic crowd gathered in St. James Cathedral Sunday afternoon to confer Ecclesiastical Honors on a large group of lay men and women who have made extraordinary contributions over the past decades to the Archdiocese of Seattle and those we serve.
Our Northwest Catholic Magazine posted an informative article explaining the honors and providing a brief bio for each of those we honored. I encourage you to read that article here.
Giving thanks is at the heart of stewardship and the reason we took the opportunity to recognize the generosity of these men and women who have served the Archdiocese so generously in recent years.
As they received notification of these awards, there was one common response: “Why me? There must be others who are more deserving of such recognition.”
Indeed, there are many others who are serving with exemplary generosity, but it is good for us to take a moment and recognize your service and to say “Thanks”. It is my hope that in the years to come we will have other moments such as this to recognize others as well.
It is good to recognize that all we have comes from God. In the end, all service is a response to God’s love. Service is a response to grace. It is not a burden. The Church teaches that thanksgiving transforms duty into joy.
I wish to share with you just a few such instructions from our Church teaching:
Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 2097): Adoration and thanksgiving as fundamental attitudes toward God.
Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium (EG 24): Missionary discipleship flows from gratitude for God’s love.
Pope Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas Est (DCE 18): Love and service spring from God’s prior gift.
Gaudium et Spes (GS 24): “Man cannot fully find himself except through a sincere gift of himself.”
I have recently begun the practice, at the suggestion of my spiritual director, of spending the first ten minutes of each day giving thanks to God. It does not take long to realize that everything comes from God, and each gift flows from his love. Thus, one cannot help but make a response of love in return.
This led to my conviction that my own ministry as a preist and bishop can only be carried out in love – as a response to the love of Christ and to his call to serve him and God’s people as your Archbishop. This is the essence of our Christian vocation – to love in response to God’s infinite love, and to always give thanks!
Peace!
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