A Prayer of Gratitude

I thought this would be appropriate for the beginning of Lent.

Dearest Lord God,

Help me to be thankful for all the blessings you have bestowed on me, which, like my existence itself, I hold not by any justice of mine, but by the richness of your merciful kindness. Help me to realize that the goods of this world are simply signs of your love, and that despite their fleetingness, you remain. Help me to see that no matter what my life may lack, you are with me. I need nothing more: you are that priceless pearl, beside whom all other goods are naught.

Thank you for making me, with all my endowments and shortcomings. Thank you for my life to this point: the joys, sorrows, goofs, and even the sins you have allowed, which remind me of my dependence on you. Thank you for the gift of my present afflictions, which draw me closer to you and help me to see you, the only real good. Thank you for everything that has opened me to the grace you want to give me right now, the grace that will bring me to live with you in eternal joy.

Amen.