Dear Brothers and Sisters, As we continue with our Stewardship Month, I’d like to take the chance to highlight another virtue that is important for being good stewards of God’s blessings: gratitude. When we recognize that everything we have is a gift, it changes stewardship from a burden into a joy. When we’re able to say “Thank you, Lord” in every moment, we become instruments of God’s love for others and our own lives are so much fuller. Think about the rich young man in today’s Gospel. He had become so attached to his wealth that he had lost sight of the fact that everything he had was a gift from God. His experience was of worry rather than gratitude—and that ultimately became a barrier that prevented him from following Jesus. I think the virtue of gratitude is more important than ever nowadays. On social media, we’re often presented with images of other people’s lives—or at least, carefully chosen images of the way people want to present their lives. When we only see those idealized images, it’s easy to get the impression that other people are a lot happier than we are, and we can feel inadequate or even jealous because we know our lives aren’t as “perfect” as they seem to be. But if we focus on being grateful for the good things God has given us, the feelings of envy will be replaced by feelings of contentment and peace. Through the intercession of Our Lady of Joyful Hope and our patron St. Thomas, let’s embrace a spirit of gratitude for all God’s many blessings to us. God bless,