On the Gifts of God

Considerations:

1.) I consider the material gifts that God has given me, my body and the means to maintain it, my family, my talents, my abilities, my education, my vocation, and my mission in life. I also consider how many more people there must be without these gifts; people who are in poor health, people who are injured, without limbs, blind, deaf, mute, poor, uneducated, homeless, and hungry, etc. I also consider that God willed that I should be better off than many people and yet, at times, I have been ungrateful of what I have and envious of those who have more. I also consider that He has granted the progress of my soul in uniting with His Holy Spirit.

2.) I consider the mental gifts that God has given me. Why am I not stupid, idiotic, insane, neurotic, psychotic, or hopelessly drug addicted like so many other people? God has favored me with loving parents who provided me with a decent and suitable education while so many other people have grown up without good parents to guide them and have grown up in utter ignorance.

3.) I consider God's spiritual gifts. From a small child God has taught me to know about Him. How often has He shown me the correct path and how many times have I failed Him? How many times has He forgiven me and delivered me from evil only to see me fall again from his grace. In spite of my failings, how many opportunities has he given me to repent and turn away from sin, and how have I responded?

Affections and Resolutions:

1.) Oh God, how good Thou hast been to me; how generous in mercy and kindness Thou art. O my soul, be ever aware of all the great things that the Lord has done for thee!

2.) I wonder at my own ingratitude. What am I, Lord, that Thou should remember me? I have rejected Thy mercy and abused Thy grace.

3.) Wake up O my soul! Renew thy faith and love for thy Benefactor. How could I not serve the Lord who has done such great things in me and for me?

Conclusion:

1.) I thank Thee O Lord, for making clear to me the knowledge of my benefits and my duty to serve Thee out of love for Thee and accepting Thy gift knowing that I will never be able to repay Thee.

2.) I offer Thee my heart, my mind, and my soul, O God, and I plead with Thee to accept me as a true son (or daughter).

3.) O God, please strengthen me by the merits of Thy son Jesus Christ who died on the Cross at Calvary for my sins. Amen.

Note: From Introduction to the Devout Life by Saint Francis de Sales, 21 August 1567 – 28 December 1622. He was a Bishop of Geneva and is honored as a saint in the Catholic Church. His Introduction to the Devout Life was written specially for lay people. In it he counseled charity over penance as a means of progressing in the spiritual life. St. Francis de Sales has been styled "the Gentleman Saint" because of his patience and gentleness. He developed a sign language in order to teach a deaf man about God. Because of this, he is the patron saint of the deaf. He is one of my favorite saints because he was very "down to earth, understanding of human nature, and practical as well as saintly. He, St. Ignatius Loyola, St. Augustine of Hippo, St. Francis of Assisi, and St. Anthony of the Desert are my companions and advisers on the "straight and narrow path."

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