The Jeff Cavins Show (Your Catholic Bible Study Podcast) - Thankful People Are Attractive People

Episode Date: November 17, 2017

Jeff gives ten tips to help you live a spirit of gratitude in every season of your life.

You're listening to the Jeff Kavana show. Episode 41, Thankful people are attractive people. Hey, I'm Jeff Kavins. How do you simplify your life? How do you study the Bible? All the way from motorcycle trips to raising kids, we're going to talk about the faith and life in general.

It's the Jeff Kaven show. Welcome to the show in this very special show during thanks. Week. If you're listening to the show, other than Thanksgiving, well, we're talking about Thanksgiving this week, really a topic that's so central to our lives. And as we get further into the actual celebration of Thanksgiving in our country, I'm afraid that so often, like Christmas and Easter and other holidays, that it's lost. It's lost. And it kind of turns into a buying spree. And when people think about Thanksgiving in our culture today, they think about about Black Friday, you know, the day after when everybody is going to go shopping.

And this year, the marketing gurus have done one better. They have gray November, meaning that we have been celebrating Thanksgiving by buying stuff all this month. Well, anyway, we're going to talk about the real meaning of Thanksgiving this week. And I want to thank you, starting off, no pun intended, by, I want to thank you by, for, writing me and telling me about what you think of the show and how it has helped you really encouraging. And I encourage you to go to iTunes and rank the show, leave some comments. It does a lot for the algorithms to get Catholic radio shows out there where they can help people. So when people search for topics and so forth, the show ranks high and people have a chance to hear

the gospel rather quickly. Well, we're going to talk about Thanksgiving today. And And I'm excited about this because of all the topics in my life that I study, I would have to say that Thanksgiving is one of the top five topics. If you were to go into my library, you would see a number of topics. I like to study simplicity. I like to study suffering. I like to study love. I like to study discipleship.

The fifth one is I love to study Thanksgiving. And we've done some shows in the past on Thanksgiving, but today we're going to focus on the art of Thanksgiving. And I want to give you 10 tips for cultivating Thanksgiving in your life. It will really produce dividends in your life if you become a person who is thankful. But as the title of the show says, thankful people are attractive people. I've got to tell you that I can see two groups of people when I go out into the world.

One is people who are very, very thankful. for everything in their life. And man, they are attractive people. I think about people like Mother Teresa, who was very, very thankful for everything, and there was something so amazingly attractive about her. And then you run into people that are not very thankful, always complaining, always blaming,

always finding excuses as to why they couldn't do what they were expected to do. And those people typically are not real attractive people, to be totally honest with you. But we want to focus on thankful people are attractive people. We can find so much to praise God about in our lives. One of the great prayers of the church is the examined prayer that comes out of the Ignatian tradition where at the end of the day we look back at the day and we thank God for all of the blessings. and we look at our day to see how we've done and we make the appropriate changes for the next day.

Well, the examined prayer begins step one by looking back at your day and thanking God for the great things that he has given you in your life. And so often when we are struggling in our lives with our health and finances and relationships, we find it difficult, to be honest with you, to find the good things in our life. But the examined prayer forces us to begin with Thanksgiving. And the reason for that is that when we look at the gifts that God has given us during our day, it ties us immediately to the gift giver, which is God. And that's a great way to start our day. The word thank is actually derived from the old English word thank, T-H-A-N-C, meaning thought.

And so that tells us something right there that if we're going to be people of true thanks, at this time a year, thanking is related to thinking. It's not just some kind of word or expression of thanks that we say that's separate from thinking. We're actually thinking and we are concluding with the heart of thanksgiving and we express it with our mouths in the things that we do. Gratitude is the disposition. Thanksgiving is its natural expression. So Thanksgiving, because it unites the mind and the heart is an expression of the whole person. Now, I want to run you through a little exercise before we look at the 10 tips for cultivating thankfulness during this Thanksgiving season. I want to look at that story in Luke chapter 17 versus 11 through 19. It's the healing of

the lepers. It's one of my favorite stories. If you've done any study in the New Testament, you know that leprosy was demoralizing. It was defeating. It was defeating. It was, It was socially devastating to find out that you had become a leper. It was a disease that automatically, according to the law, both the biblical law and the social law, you were an outcast. You were put into a leper colony outside of the community, and that meant that your relationship with your family was over. No more soccer games, no more Christmas celebrations, no more Easter egg hunts, no more

going to Mass on Sunday morning, it's over. And your life is going to be different. Well, there were 10 of these guys that had caught leprosy. And one day, Jesus walked by them, and they yelled out, you know, Son of David, have mercy on us. And Jesus healed all 10 of them. Now, you would think that after being healed of this atrocious disease that they would be filled with so much thanks. But Jesus made a very interesting observation from Luke 17

verses 11 through 19. He said that his observation was this. One man returned and said something. He said, thank you. Thank you. Now the church fathers and the doctors of the church tell us that these physical healings that we read about in the New Testament, such as the healing of these lepers, they are almost like what we would call sacramentals, these healings. A sacramental is something that points to the deep spiritual healing that the love of the Trinity brings. They are signs. They're sacramentals. They point to the deep, deep spiritual healing. In other words, the physical healing points to the deep spiritual healing in their lives. That means that even though we, you and I have not had leprosy,

physical leprosy. We've had spiritual leprosy. We've been dead in our trespasses and sins and Jesus has completely healed us. So this is not a story that is separate from our own reality. We too have been in a devastating position like those lepers and we too have had Jesus pass our way and we too have been totally healed and we too have a new beginning. But the question is, which leper are we? Are we the one who turned around and said thank you? Are we one of the nine that didn't say anything? Well, there's a way that we can find that out. Very, very easy.

We can take a look at, well, what about last week? Last week, the week before Thanksgiving, which one were you? Were you the one? Or were you one of the nine? Did you go to adoration and thank God? Did you thank God in the car? Did you thank God at the end of the day? Did you take some time to give thanks for all that he has provided for you?

Or did you have a week where, you know, to be honest with you, just time went by and I didn't think about anything. We've got to be honest about that. You know, we always want to be that one that absolutely says thanks. A person with a thankful heart has a proper perspective on life. This year at Thanksgiving, we need to get away from the turkey and the gifts and the Black Friday and all that. the gray thanks, the gray November, and we need to focus on what God has really, really given us in our life and express that thanks to him. A person with a thankful heart has a proper perspective, as G.K. Chesterton once said, the secret to happiness. Get this. It's pretty insightful, to be honest with you.

G.K. Chesterton said, the secret to happiness is gratitude. It's gratitude. People who are filled with gratitude are happy people. People who are not filled with gratitude are constantly complaining and always wondering why they get the raw into the deal. And oh me, oh my, I eat worms. These are not happy people at all. They aren't. I'm just being honest with you. And if I were to be honest with you, I'd have to go a step further and say there are days where I'm one of the nine.

And I don't like it. I want to be that one. And I want to be that one every day. So I challenge you to check your heart. Where do you stand? Restless, never satisfied. Continually thinking about your problems, your circumstances, your finances, your health, and so forth. And always coming up, oh me, oh my.

Ingratitude is a clear indicator of a heart turned in on itself. Proud. Never satisfied. Oh God, deliver us from that this year, this Thanksgiving, deliver us from that kind of heart, a heart of ingratitude. I like what Paul says. By the way, all this stuff is in the show notes. You don't have to write it down. If you're in the car, do not, I repeat, do not get into a car accident.

I have provided all of this in the show notes. My crack producer, my wonderful producer, Marisa, puts it all together for you. And in fact, I challenge you to find show notes better than this show, not because of me, but because of Marisa. She does such a good job. In gratitude, it's a clear indicator, right, of the heart turned in on itself. Paul says this in Romans chapter 1, verses 21 through 32. I'm not going to read it all, but Paul examined some of the most wicked depravities in the world. I mean, I'm going to name them right now, but you go read it.

Romans 1, 21 through 32. He names a whole list, a litany of the most wicked depravities in the world. And you know what he finds in the midst of it? He found a thankless heart at the root. Oh, man. Oh, oh, man. At the heart of all of these sinful depravities is a thankless heart. Wow.

Now, on the other end of that spectrum, we find our lady, the Blessed Virgin Mary, she's at the complete opposite end of the spectrum in the Magnificat in Luke 1, verses 46 through 49. What does she say? The mighty one has done great things for me. The mighty one has done great things for me. Is that your confession this Thanksgiving week that the Mighty One has done great things for you? Is that really your confession or is it oh me? Oh my. I'm going to eat worms. Nobody understands. Nobody gets me. I always get the raw end of the deal. I've never even guessed the power ball number. No, the mighty one has done great things for me. The catechism says in paragraph 224, it's in the notes one of the implications of having faith in one God. That is,

There aren't many gods, but there's only one God, as it says in the Shemah, Deuteronomy, 6-4, Hear O Israel, the Lord, our God, the Lord is one. Shema, Israel, Adonai, Eloheno, Adonai, Echad. We worship one God, and the catechism says that one of the implications of having faith in one God is it means living and Thanksgiving. We know who to give credit to this week. You know who to give credit to. It's God.

it isn't you it's not your talent and ability all at all comes from god it's all good it all comes from god well i promised you at the top of the show that we're going to do 10 tips for cultivating thankfulness and we're going to take a break right now when i come back i'm going to give you 10 tips that are practical tips on how to cultivate thankfulness during this thanksgiving season and i hope you i hope you go to the show notes and get them i'm going to put them all down there for you. But more importantly, and I say this to myself as well, I hope you do them and I hope I do them. The greatest gift we can give to God at Thanksgiving is to be obedient and to return thanks to him. You're listening to the Jeff Kaven show. We'll be back in just a

moment. Hey guys, this is Shana from Ascension. I don't know if you've heard, but with Ascension's new digital delivery platform, you can start a study with anyone anywhere. Here's how to do it. First, go to ascensionpress.com and create a free online account. Once you're there, preview any of our study programs for free and choose the one you'd like to leave. Then, find at least three friends, family members, or coworkers who want to do the study with you. Once you have your group, make sure everyone registers to receive their study materials. Then, you're ready to go.

Meet with your group in person, online, or both. It's that simple. Well, thanks for returning. I thought you might return because I had an inkling that you just might want to know what these 10 tips are for cultivating thankfulness in your life. By the way, I do appreciate the email I'm getting from you. It's an easy email. If you've got ideas for shows, you've got comments and things you want to add to the show, shoot me an email. It's real simple. the Jeff Kaven Show at ascensionpress.com. It'll be in the show notes. That is the Jeff Kaven Show at ascensionpress.com. And once again, too, share the show.

If you're listening via iTunes, share it with friends. This time of the year, share the show with friends. If you're listening to this on Ascension Presents, you also have the ability to share it with friends. Well, I hope you do. Okay, 10 tips for cultivating thankfulness. you ready? Are you ready for this? All right. Number one, remember that thankfulness is a holy discipline, independent of feelings. So often people say, well, I don't feel like it. I don't feel

like doing this. I don't feel like doing that. But from a biblical perspective, giving thanks to God and thanking God for thanks is independent of feelings. We don't just wait till we have the feeling to thank God. We thank him, whether we feel like it or not. I like what Paul wrote to the Ephesians in chapter 5, verses 19 and 20. It's in the notes. He says, we address one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart, with all your heart, always and for everything, giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father. I like what he says there. He says always and for everything. Now, if you take always and for everything, there's apt to be days that you don't feel like always, you know,

praising God. But Paul says always and for everything. Give thanks in the name of our Lord. So giving thanks is independent of feelings. Colossians chapter 3 in verse 17 says, and whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord. Jesus giving thanks to God the Father through him. You see, a mature believer sees the hand of God in every circumstance in their life. Are you a mature believer? Number two, we're talking about 10 tips for cultivating thankfulness. Number two, thank God for the small and the ordinary things.

Thank him for the small and the ordinary things. Someone once said, the only thing necessary to make us honest. unappreciative of a blessing from God is that we should receive the blessing often and regularly. Think of the opportunities for the leper the following week. Look for the blessings in the mundane. Paul said in Colossians 4 too, continues steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with Thanksgiving. And I like what the catechism says too about thanking God for small and ordinary things.

the catechism paragraph 2638 says as in the prayer of petition every event and need can become an offering of Thanksgiving. Just take a moment this Thanksgiving week and ask yourself, what are the petitions and what are the events in your life this week? Those petitions and those events can become an offering of Thanksgiving. So start with the small. Start with the ordinary and thank God and say, God, I thank you for my shoes. Go, go without your shoes on Thanksgiving all day long. And at the end of the day, I'll tell you what, you're going to be thankful that you've got shoes. Start with a small and ordinary. Number three, thank God in the midst of adversity. Thank God in the midst of adversity. Paul said it this way. He said, give thanks in all

circumstances. And he said that in 1st Thessalonians 518. But Paul didn't just say this stuff. You know, thank God in the midst of adversity. He modeled it. He modeled this stuff. He modeled this attitude when writing from prison in Philippians chapter 1 in verse 3 when he said, I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, as he wrote to the Philippians. Wow. It's powerful. Thank God in the midst of adversity. This year, during this Thanksgiving week, let me ask you a question. Are you going through adversity in your life right now with your health, your finances, your relationships, your schooling, your job, your emotions? Are you going through adversity right now in your life? Give God thanks for all that you have. Show an attitude of gratitude in the midst of adversity.

I could go on and on with all. In fact, we did a show on this not too long ago about what do we do in tough situations? In fact, I even wrote a book on it. I put that in the show notes for you. It's called Praise God and thank Him. Biblical keys for a joyful life. What do we do when we get into tough situations?

We thank God. And that's what Israel did over and over when they were in tough situations where it looked like they weren't going to be victorious. the choir came out and started to thank God. Beautiful, beautiful. Number four, I love this one. Set aside time daily to express thanks to God. Set aside time daily to express thanks to God. You know that in ancient Israel, a daily habit of Thanksgiving was important to the life of the nation, so important that the Levites were officially appointed.

pointed to stand in the temple every morning and every evening to do one thing. Give God thanks. That's right. Every morning, every evening, the Levites would stand in the temple and they would give God thanks. Toda, T-O-D-A-H, Toda, thank-th, thanks. Verse Chronicles 2330. And then we also see in the book of Daniel, Daniel did something three times every single day. read about it. And Daniel 6.10, what did he do three times a day? Three times a day, he got down on his

knees and he thanked God. Oh, man, what a habit that can change your life. I don't know about you. I just got convicted. See, this is the beautiful thing about this radio show is that I get to talk to myself. I'm serious. I'm convicted about this. Daniel thought that giving God thanks, was so important that he three times a day got on his knees and did it. He thanked God, Daniel 610. I'm going to challenge you. And I'm challenging myself this next week, three times a day. I'm going to put it into my routine. I'm going to get on my knees. Morning, afternoon, evening. I'm going to get on my knees. I'm going to thank God. I'm serious about this. I feel so convicted by the word of God today. Will you do it too? Right.

me. I want to hear the Jeff Kaven show at ascensionpress.com. I want to hear, I want to hear the response to this challenge. Daniel knelt three times a day to thank God. You and I can too. And other ideas, you know, you've got these smartphones. Let's put them to work. Let's set alarms three times a day to thank God. The catechism says in paragraph 1418, and all this is in the show notes, to visit the blessed sacrament at a holy hour is, quote, a proof of gratitude. So I tell you, my friend, I'm challenging you as I'm challenging myself. Let's thank God three times a day. Let's make a point of going to adoration. Proof of gratitude. Visit the blessed sacrament.

Number five, thank God publicly and corporately. Well, if you go a mass, you do this. You do this. We as Catholics are really people of praise. We're people of Thanksgiving. In fact, the Eucharistic celebration is called the Eucharist, and Eucharist is the word for Thanksgiving. The mass at the heart of the mass is Thanksgiving. We're giving God, we're giving God thanks. And the whole mass is just riddled with with Thanksgiving. Before the elements are consecrated, Jesus gives thanks. The glory. We give you thanks. We praise you for your glory. Liturgy of the Word. The reader says the word of the Lord. Response? Thanks be to God. The Eucharistic prayer, let us give thanks to the Lord

our God. And what's the response? It is right to give him thanks and praise. You see, the liturgy teaches us what to believe here. And in fact, in the Eucharistic prayer, number one, the day before he suffered, he took bread in his sacred hands. And the look at the Lord, and it looks. looking up to heaven to you, His Almighty Father, he gave you thanks and praise. And what's the concluding right? Go in peace to love and serve the Lord. And what's the response? Thanks be to God.

Thanks be to God. Love it. Love it. Number six, try voluntary fasts from something you take for granted. Try a voluntary fast from something that you take for granted. When you give up eating for a day, you're going to thank God for your. your next meal. When you walk to work, you're going to thank him for your car or for the bus. There's a lot of things that we can do. We can give up something for a day, and it will bring about a thankfulness in our heart for all that God has given us. And I challenge you to do that.

This coming week, maybe take away something in your life for a day. And at the end of the day, you'll just offer such beautiful thanks to God for the little things in your life that have been such a benefit to you. Number seven, keep a record of God's faithfulness to you. In other words, count your blessings. Count them one by one. Keep a record of God's faithfulness to you. Let me tell you a quick story. I have a relative that had been married. They both have since passed away in the last year or so. But they had a habit. They had a tradition of keeping being count of God's faithfulness in their life.

Every year since the day that they were married, they cut off an inch of the Christmas tree at the bottom. And then they wrote the date, the year, on that small one-inch section of the trunk. And after close to 65 years of being married, they would string all of these pieces of wood together every Christmas and they would be able to recount the years and the blessings that God had brought into their life.

It was a great family tradition. I remember it well. This last year, the wife passed away as my wife's aunt, Beverly, that's her name. Pray for her. And her husband Stan, a beautiful tradition, really a beautiful tradition. And there's a lot of traditions that you can come up with where you can keep a record of God's faithfulness to you and your family and you can count your blessings. We have a new ornament on the Christmas Day.

tree every year. And before we put up all the other ornaments, we go through all of the years and those ornaments where there's a specific blessing that year and our kids go through it with us. And now our grandkids go through it with us. And it's a great chance to recount all the wonderful things that God has done. Keeping a record of God's faithfulness to you. Number eight, show gratitude and thankfulness towards others. Show gratitude and thankfulness towards others. Think of three people right now. Three people that you, You can write a note of thanks to in your life. They have meant so much to you in your life, your development, your spiritual life.

In fact, the catechism says in paragraph 2220 that thanking those who have passed on the faith to you is a sign of gratitude and thankfulness. So I want to challenge you again. Think of three people that you could write to this week and just say, I want to thank you. It reminds me of my sixth grade teacher, Mr. Knight. Mr. Knight was the teacher that absolutely ignited, pardon the pun, a passion for reading in sixth grade. And I remember the stories so well, so well. And I owed him a lot for getting me hooked on reading and adventure books and things. And I remember when my first book came out in 1999, my life on the Rock, I think it was 99.

One of the first people I thought of was Mr. Knight, you know, my sixth grade teacher. And so I went back to Minnesota from Birmingham, Alabama, to visit my folks. But I brought a couple of books with me, and one of them was for Mr. Knight. And I went to my old elementary school, Hubert Olson Elementary School, or Bloomington, Minnesota. and I went to the principal's office, which I was quite familiar with, and I asked if Mr. Knight was here, and he said, no, he doesn't teach here anymore. He's over on the other side of Bloomington at another school. So I quickly drove over there, and I went to the principal's office there,

which I was not familiar with that one. And I asked if Mr. Knight was here, and they said, oh, yeah, he's down in room so-and-so. And I walked down there, and there was my sixth-grade teacher that I had not seen in, oh, wow, I don't know, 30 years. or something like that. He was an old man now. It was on his last year of teaching. And I walked in, I said, Mr. Knight, and he looked at me like, I know you, but I'm not sure how. And I said, my name's Jeff. He goes, Kavens. I said, yes, Jeff, Jeff Kavins. How are you doing? And I said, fine, fine. And I said, I just wanted you to know that I appreciate what you have meant in my life. And I handed him my first book. And I had tears in my eyes. And I said, I'm grateful. And I'm thankful. And I'm

for all you taught me about books. And I wanted to give you the first copy of my book. And he looked at me and he had tears in his eyes and he said, he said, nobody's ever come back like this before. And I thought, that's sad. We need to show gratitude and thankfulness towards others. Think of three people that you could write to this week. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 912,

he told the Corinthians that generosity, quote, is not only supplying the needs of God's people, but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Did you know this? Did you know that taking care of your parents in their old age is a sign of thankfulness towards God? Uh-huh. Paragraph 2215 and 2218 of the Catechism. number nine

number nine suffering from anxiety or worry some of us do sometimes don't we we suffer from anxiety we suffer from worry we can't sleep at night what do you do when you can't sleep at night here's a tip for you what do you do when you can't sleep at night watch CNN

okay come on I'm kidding I'm totally kidding what do you do when you can't sleep at night Paul commands those people to cultivate a life of Thanksgiving in Philippians 4.6. If you can't sleep at night, what does the psalmist say? Psalm 119.62. It's in the show notes, rise and give thanks to God. If you can't sleep, rise at midnight and give thanks to God. It's so much better than network news. It's so much better than the Kardashians. It's so much better than National Geographic. It's so much better than finance shows and shows about selling real estate and everything else.

Rise and give thanks to God. And number 10. Drum roll, please. Allow the Holy Spirit to awaken your memory during the liturgy of the Word in the Mass. This is an interesting point right here. It's so often, so often, I'm just, this is part confession, I guess, we get caught up and thinking about our own problem. you know, when we go to Mass, that the scriptures are being read. And if your life depended on it, you couldn't recite anything that was just read.

You weren't paying attention. You weren't, honestly. You know, I mean, not all the time. You know what I'm saying. But so often, you weren't paying attention. And our response is, thanks be to God, right? It's thanks be to God. And so my prayer is this.

Tip number 10, allow the Holy Spirit to awaken your mind. memory during the liturgy of the Word. In other words, pay attention, pay attention to the word. And according to the catechism in paragraph 1103, the Holy Spirit will inspire Thanksgiving and praise in you. And paragraph 2807 in the catechism, adoration can be understood as praise and Thanksgiving. So ask God to quicken and to awaken your memory during the liturgy of the word, so you pay attention to his great, great blessing. Wow. Ten tips. You know, there's a lot of great quotes out there. A lot of great things have been said by great leaders in the church about Thanksgiving this time of year. G.K. Chesterton said, when it comes to life, the critical thing is whether you take

things for granted or take them with gratitude. Very, very important. St. Ambrose said no duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks. St. Teresa Vavala said, in all created things, discern the providence and wisdom of God, and in all things, give him thanks. St. John Paul II said, remember the past with gratitude, live the present with enthusiasm, look forward to the future with confidence. St. John, Chrysostom, he said, happiness can only be achieved by looking inward and learning to enjoy whatever life has, and this requires transformed greed, transforming greed into gratitude. St. Teresa of Calcutta, she said the best way to show my gratitude to God is to accept everything,

even my problems with joy. Thomas Merton, he said to be grateful is to recognize the love of God in everything. And St. Teresa of Lizzou, which I know is a favorite of many of you, you've written me, She said, Jesus does not demand great action from us, but simply surrender and gratitude. Isn't that beautiful? I think that's absolutely beautiful. A few thoughts there about some of the great leaders of the church and some of the things they've had to say about Thanksgiving. Well, my wife and I and the entire staff of Ascension Press, thank God for you.

And we pray that this Thanksgiving will be a very meaningful one, a deep one. and that you will have opportunity to express thanks like never before and to share this message of thanks with others. And so I'm going to ask you once again, share the show with your friends and say, happy Thanksgiving. I want to give you 10 tips on how to cultivate thankfulness in your life. And again, if you want to write me, it's The Jeff Kaven Show at ascensionpress.com and let me close in prayer, a prayer of Thanksgiving. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Lord, during this great week of Thanksgiving, I lift up to you, my friends and family, my brothers and sisters in the church and ask you, Lord, to help us all to cultivate a heart

of thankfulness, not self-centeredness, not in gratitude, but gratitude, and a heart of praise. Lord, there's so much to be thankful for, and we just take this time now to not only thank you, but to also ask you to help us to develop habits in our life that we'll cultivate. further thankfulness in this attitude of gratitude. We thank you for this. In Jesus' name, Amen. Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Thank you, my brother. Thank you, my sister, for joining me on this week's show. God bless you.