Welcome to The Examine, your daily prayer hosted by Father James Martin and brought to you by America Media, a Jesuit ministry.

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I'm Father Jim Martin. I'm about to lead you through a traditional Jesuit prayer that will help you

notice where God has been in your day. But first, let's begin with

our weekly reflection, which is released every Sunday. For many of us listening to this

podcast, at least those in the United States, this week is dominated by Thanksgiving Day.

As I mentioned recently, it may seem strange for Christians to focus on giving thanks only once a year,

since it should be our general stance towards life.

As St. Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits once remarked,

ingratitude is the worst and most abominable of sins,

and in fact the origin of all sins.

If you're ungrateful, you probably want more and more,

and that can tempt you to sin.

Once on retreat I was complaining about the one thing that I didn't have in my life, and

overlooking all the many positive things that were going on.

And my retreat director gently challenged me, saying, don't you think you're being

just the littlest bit greedy?

From a more positive standpoint, we might ask what gratitude or giving thanks does for us.

Well, first, it reminds us where our blessings come from, God. Second, it reminds us that we're not God, as much as we are tempted to think we are.

Third, it focuses on some things that we might overlook.

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