"Gratitude is really a get-rich-quick scheme"

Father Albert Hasse, a Franciscan priest, came into the Pastor's Circle to talk about developing a lifestyle of gratitude or, as he called it, the attitude of gratitude.. Learn more about Fr. Haase here.

Why is gratitude such an important part of your life?

I think really as Paul reminds us in the letter to the Galatians, it's for freedom that Christ has set us free.

So many people I have met in my ministry are in a prison of worry.

One of the things I have discovered in my own life about gratitude...is that gratitude is really a get-rich-quick scheme.

As we look at the things God has blessed us with, we become more aware of how much we have.

Everything is a gift from God. And I think as we grow in that attitude of gratitude, we come to realize that I don't have to buy a lottery ticket to be wealthy, I'm already as wealthy as I can possibly be.

The people who are richest are the people who live lives of gratitude.

People who have an appreciative spirit live life on a whole different frequency.

They know that God in the end will always take care of us.

I really try to push hard the importance of an attitude of gratitude.

My faith in God has deepened the more and more I become a grateful person.

Interesting, isn't it, what gratitude can do for your attitude?

Isn't ironic that sometimes the freest people are those who have been incarcerated.

We sometimes are the very people who become imprisoned by other things.

Sometimes when we're in prison...it really challenges us to take a hard look at our lives.

I've traveled to developing nations, and the people seem to be happier than in America. Explain that one.

I think so often, in America this idea of the American idea to get more and more...it's very easy to think that I am responsible for everything in my life. I am responsible for my money.

It was all my work. And that really is the lie of the American dream. The lie of the American dream tracks us back to the ego.

If someone's out there saying I do need to be more grateful, what are some practical tips you're gonna give them?

Every morning when you wake up, every evening when you go to bed, take a look at what you're thankful for.

You begin to get more and more particular.

Those are all ways that God speaks to use to remind us that we are lovable and He cares for us.

Gratitude is something that doesn't come naturally...especially us Americans.

The practical ways is every morning and every evening before retiring take a look and see how God has touched you.

I guarantee, you begin to live on another frequency.

I encourage my students to praise God and thank Him. What's the difference between these two.

The difference is it's often thanksgiving that leads to adoration.

Thanksgiving looks at me...adoration is focused on God.

As Moses before the burning bush, I take my shoes off and worship.

Sometimes I think we can't adore God without that attitude of gratitude.

Out of all creation God takes notice of me!

What are some things in America that we take for granted?

We should be grateful for the freedom we experience.

Our freedom here in America is just a faint expression of the freedom we can find in Christ.

You don't experience how grateful we should be for our freedom....until you visit a communist nation.

For us Americans to begin just with the fact that we're free.

Freedom in America is just a slim glimmer of what we experience in Christ