In The Psychology Behind Giving Thanks, an interview by the semi-official Catholic news service Zenit.org, Catholic psychologist Paul Vitz describes the effect of gratitude, and the relation of gratitude to forgiveness:
But let's look at the meaning of gratitude in light of the Faith. The very word for the Eucharist, the translation of its meaning is "thanksgiving." And thanksgiving is a way of expressing gratitude to God.
So it's at the center of the faith. The Eucharist is about Thanksgiving. It makes sense that Our Lord would have asked us to do something that was not only wise and spiritually sound, but psychologically good for us too.
Q: In other interviews we have spoken about the virtue of forgiveness and its relation to mental health. How can gratitude also play a role in the healing process?
Vitz: Let me propose this: One of the major barriers to forgiveness is anger, and resentment toward somebody. As long as that emotion is front-and-center in your mental life, it's very hard to forgive.
But if you can begin to be thankful for things that are present in your life, once you realize that you've been given things, and given them gratis, things change. I mean, you did not pay God to give you life, and no human being paid God to send Our Lord among us. So when you realize the things that you have, that you've been given, and you are filled with gratitude, it puts anger, bitterness and resentment aside.
When you realize what's been given to you, just out of generosity then I believe it is easier to forgive. Because to forgive someone is to give them something. It is to give up your debt to them. It is as if they owe you a hundred dollars, they owe you this or they owe you that, an apology or whatever, and you give up the claim to it. So you are giving something to them in the way that God, life and others have given to you, that you yourself have shown gratitude for.
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