What Does Nurturing Gratitude Have to Do With Faith Formation?

“With gratitude, optimism is sustainable. If you can find something to be grateful for then you can find something to look forward to, and you can carry on.”
— Michael J. Fox

In every season, gratitude invites us to notice the good that is already here. It slows us down just enough to see beauty in small things—the warmth of a mug between our hands, a child’s laughter echoing down the hallway, the quiet hum of people working together for something larger than themselves.

In Faith Formation, we help our children and youth practice this noticing. When they share “roses and thorns” in Youth Group or check in with joys and concerns, they are learning that gratitude is not just saying “thank you.” It is an orientation of the heart, a habit of paying attention to what sustains us, even when life is hard.

Gratitude does not ignore pain or struggle.  Instead, it offers a way through. When we can find even one small thing to be grateful for, we can find hope.  And from hope, we find courage to carry on.

This month, I invite you to join our young people in nurturing gratitude. Notice something that fills you with quiet joy. Share it aloud. Write it down. Offer it in prayer. Gratitude, like faith, grows stronger when practiced together.

So May It Be.

-Submitted by Interim Director of Faith Formation, Bridget Laflin