About Gratitude

Written by Sr. Grace - Taiwan Province

Gratitude is to recognize what I am provided with, to be content with what I possess now, to admit that I don't earn it by myself, but am given, and consequently desire to share what I have.

Gratefulness is a feeling or an emotion, which fills my heart and has accompanied me all along my journey. My inner gratitude becomes stronger and stronger day by day. I have a sufficient number of reasons to be appreciative, but above all, my strongest thankfulness is toward my parents.

As the youngest child of the family, I have experienced love since I was born. Although my family was not rich, my parents tried their best to look after all our needs, even when sometimes it meant that they had to give up what they themselves liked.

Besides material well-being, what I received and am receiving from my parents the most is love. My parents are very devoted Christians and the best gift they have given me is my faith. They suffered persecution because of their Faith during the Cultural Revolution (1965-1975) and at the time when I was born, we were still prohibited to go to the church or have the Eucharist; interestingly, the very first sentence I could utter was the sign of cross. Still today, a vivid image, which so often appears in front of me is, that my mother was teaching me to make the sign of the cross and telling me, every morning when I woke up and every evening before I went to bed, the most important thing to do is to make the sign of cross and to ask God to bless each single one of my family. This became one of my habits, which I am still practicing now.

My parents didn't only bring me up in Faith using words; they did it much more with their lives. They have always respected each other, and other people, too. They have never said any hurtful words and have always taught us to be good-tempered, tolerant and understanding, and above all, to forgive.

The love I have been receiving and am receiving from my parents has become the most solid foundation of my life and will be the cause of my gratitude forever.