My Litany of Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving I am thankful for being alive. Thank you, Lord, for the gift of life!

Thank you for creating me in your image and likeness, Lord.

Thank you for my body, which allows me to serve you daily through the tasks I perform for my family, my parish, and my community.

Thank you for the opportunity to exercise every weekday (and occasionally on weekends) at my gym.

Thank you, Lord, for my health.

Thank you for the amazing food choices I have each day and the delicious and nutritious meals that I am able to prepare.

Thank you, Lord, for blessing me not only with the ability to cook, but also with the enjoyment it brings to others, especially those I love.

I am thankful for my mind, which despite my age (ha!), remains active and interested in many things.

I am thankful that I am able to focus, to reason, to retain information, and am still learning new things every day.

Thank you, Lord, that I know who you are and that each new day provides an opportunity for knowing you better.

Thank you for the gift of my soul, which enables me to draw closer to you.

Thank you, Lord, for awakening the deep desires of my soul to know and understand myself as a spiritual being.

Thank you for the gift of prayer and the opportunity to converse with you daily.

Thank you for the gift of free will and for enlightening me to do your holy will.

Thank you for igniting the fire of your love within me that enables me to express myself through the Holy Spirit.

Thank you, Lord, for the insatiable desire that you have given me to grow in my love for you.

Thank you for my heart, my emotions, and the gift to express myself as a human being.

I am grateful, Lord, that you created me to be a woman and that I have no desire to be anything or anyone else.

Thank you for blessing me with the gifts of empathy and compassion.

Thank you for helping me to be tender and kind and to nurture others both spiritually and physically.

Thank you, Lord, for my beautiful Catholic faith.

Thank you for the Scriptures, Church traditions, the Magisterium of the Church, the sacraments, the Communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, your death on the cross and your resurrection.

Thank you for the gift of life everlasting.

Thank you for the gift of Mother Mary, Queen of heaven and earth, Queen of angels and saints.

Thank you for the angels, and especially for my guardian angel.

Thank you for the saints, who are wonderful models of holiness and intercede for us in special ways.

Thank you especially for my patron saints.

Thank you, Lord, for our new bishop, Bishop Kemme, and his spirit-filled leadership.

Thank you for our new pastor, Fr. Jarrod, who brings his strong enthusiasm for the faith, amazing teaching and preaching skills, and inspiring homilies to our parish.

Thank you for our new assistant pastor, Fr. Josh, for his diligence, congeniality, and generosity.

Thank you for our part-time assistant pastor, Fr. Ben, who is so sincere, sweet, and humble, who really does remind me of a Jewish rabbi in "Fiddler on the Roof" or one of the early Church Fathers.

Thank you for all my loved ones -- family and friends -- both near and far. They are all precious to me.

Happy Thanksgiving, Lord!

~ copyright Jean M. Heimann, November 2015

This is my litany. What is yours?