With God

God is bigger than anything. He created everything and "indeed it was good" which is a good reason in itself to appreciate him. Besides that, Jesus has revealed God to us as "Our Father" who wants us to love him as his sons and daughters. Then coming in our sinfulness we experience God's forgiveness which leads to gratitude, joy, praise, adoration. So it is natural in God's household to give glory to God for everything.

This attitude pervades even our darkest times. He is our heavenly Father so he is not going to walk away from us when we are most in need of him. He is going to help us get through the trouble. That is what he did for his only begotten Son Jesus Christ in his darkest hour on the cross; he raised him from the dead to a new and glorious life and we are hoping for the same. That is the "Mystery of Faith" we celebrate at Mass.

Both the example of Jesus and the experience of God's People in the Bible encourage us to face our pain, i.e., our anguish of heart. In fact, there is a whole book in the Bible called 'The Book of Lamentations' dedicated to it. In the bigger picture, lamenting is an aspect of praise because we know that God is going to do something about it that makes it all worthwhile. As St Paul said, "All things work out for the good to those who love him". (Romans 8:28; see James 1:12)

So the attitude within God's home is one of thanksgiving in all circumstances. Having such a positive attitude to God in both good and bad circumstances prepares us meet the rest of humanity in both its joys and sorrows and to help people come home to God.