“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Luke 6:32-36
“Gratitude regards the favor received according the intention of the benefactor; who seems be deserving of praise, chiefly for having conferred the favor gratis without being bound to do so. Wherefore the beneficiary is under a moral obligation to bestow something gratis in return. Now he does not seem to bestow something gratis, unless he exceeds the quantity of the favor received: because so long as he repays less or an equivalent, he would seem to do nothing gratis, but only to return what he has received. Therefore gratitude always inclines, as far as possible, to pay back something more.”
Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) in Summa Theologica in Question 106 on “Gratitude” in the Second Part of the Second Part.
Thanks to all who celebrated 5,000 posts with me yesterday! All glory to God!
Today, I turn our attention back to an exploration of gratitude in the thinking of the doctors of the church. I do this to stir our hearts toward greater giving, fasting, and prayer during Lent.
Prior to my travels to Africa we heard from Ambrose of Milan, Jerome of Stridon, Augustine of Hippo, Gregory the Great, John Chrysostom, Basil the Great, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Athanasius of Alexandria.
Two days ago we moved to Bernard of Clairvaux and today we read from Thomas Aquinas.
He reminds us that gratitude regards the benefits we receive from God. Most never even go there. But if we pause there, we find that many people don’t exhibit a lot of gratitude because they don’t stop and consider all their blessings in Christ.
When we count our blessings, it motivates us to extend unmerited favor toward others. We become, as Luke writes, “children of the Most High,” because we go further than repay people for their kindness, we lavish favors on the undeserving.
If we want our generosity to be distinctly Christian in nature, we need to love our enemies and do good to them. We need to lend to others without expecting anything in return. And we must be kind to the ungrateful and wicked.
Our generosity should look crazy in earthly terms to look consistent with the instructions of our Lord Jesus Christ. Why?
Because, in the words of Aquinas, “gratitude always inclines, as far as possible, to pay back something more.” Let’s do this because Christ paid for us a debt we could never repay and always refreshes us when we give.