Gratitude: A Good Place to Start

Dear Sisters and Brothers –

“Gratitude is the foundational virtue. It makes the heart open and generous, and a generous heart creates a generous world.”

I could not find the author, but the insight strikes my heart as true and so apt for our time. In these uncertain and the-ground-is-shifting-beneath-us times, gratitude may be a starting place. Cicero said, “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.”

These two bits of wisdom tell us that engaging in this season of gratitude, of thanksgiving, will prepare the ground of our hearts, so that God can manifest God’s love of the world through us.

As the holidays approach, I am already looking back at the semester that almost was with a lot of gratitude. So much has happened in the past two and a half months in our faith community, thanks to the generosity and creativity of so many people! I’d like to share with you some of my gratitude list as we approach our National Day of Thanksgiving.

Our community is rapidly expanding.
We welcomed more than 400 people to our largest Home4Dinner Mass and Welcome Back BBQ since the pandemic, and our Sunday hospitality after the 10 am Mass is thriving—with parishioners even sharing family recipes from their cultures. Nearly 50 new parishioners gathered after a recent 5 pm Mass to get to know one another, our OWLS community is as active as ever, and parishioners have responded generously to our annual Parish Giving Appeal.

We’re worshipping and praying together more deeply.
Two Lectio Divina groups meet every Thursday, our Requiem Mass nearly filled the church, and the Altar of Remembrance continues to draw people into daily prayer. Our October count shows that Mass attendance is up across all liturgies.

We’re growing in faith and learning together.
Breaking Open the Word still meets weekly after beginning during the pandemic. Parishioners engaged in a parish-wide read on anti-racism, and we hosted two adult faith formation lectures on Laudato Si’ and the Synod. Nearly 25 people are preparing for initiation into the Church through OCIA—each accompanied by a sponsor—and we have the largest group of Children’s Faith Formation catechists in more than a decade.

We’re serving our neighbors with greater generosity.
You helped make our clothing drive the most successful ever, supported the SF-Marin Food Bank, and assembled food baskets for Catholic Charities. And we strengthened our nearly 25-year relationship with our sister parish in El Salvador when we welcomed a visiting delegation.

The Holy Spirit is blowing fresh, dynamic, and powerful winds throughout our parish. People are responding with enthusiasm and generosity. And there is more to come. A few things on the horizon:

The Advent Giving Trees are up, and tags are available. Please take one and perhaps make someone’s Christmas very special. Please return your gifts to the Parish office by December 14.

Beginning in January, the Anti-Racism Committee will offer an 11-week program to help parishioners learn about race and racism and to learn to talk about these issues in respectful, thoughtful and informed ways

Our next Home4Dinner, Pasta & Bingo, is Sat., Feb. 21, beginning with Mass at 5 pm. Mark your calendar!

All of this has been – and will be – possible because of the great generosity of our parishioners, each living out their Baptismal Call to service. If you are not a parishioner, become one, because we need your help, too! Please contact me or a member of our staff and register today to get involved.

On behalf of the Parish staff, I wish each of you and your loved ones a beautiful Thanksgiving. Whether you gather around a table or gather people into your heart, may your holiday be warm and wonderful. Included here is a lovely prayer by one of my favorite spiritual writers, Lutheran Pastor Steve Garnaas-Holmes. Perhaps you can use it at your Thanksgiving table.

Oremus pro invicem.

Fr. Greg

Thanksgiving Prayer

O Giver of all that is good, we are grateful.
We are surrounded by beauty and grace.
We are sustained and nourished by a green, thriving planet.
For home and family, neighborhood and nation, we are grateful.
In contrition we acknowledge that many of our blessings
have come at the expense of others, and the earth;
and that our benefits are not extended to all. 
Even amid suffering, we humbly dare to be grateful.
We are mindful of forces of domination that loom
and the demands of justice that cry out unfulfilled.
Yet your presence abides with us; your mercy sustains us;
your grace empowers us, and we are grateful.
O God, may our thanks be honest, humble and generous.
May we receive our blessings in your spirit: ready to share them,
and to see to it that they are made available to all.
May our gratitude be restless, until all are included,
according to your most generous grace. Amen.

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Photo: Simple Needs donations. Special thanks to Mary Lou & Jim Cranna for their help loading and delivering this food to the SF Marin Food Bank.