Reflection / John Shaughnessy

An Olympic moment of gratitude and the power of that gift for Lent

The scene will always be my favorite Olympic moment, a moment that wasn’t captured by a television camera or a sports reporter.

The moment happened during the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, shortly after the women’s soccer team of the United States earned the gold medal with a riveting, intense 1-0 victory over the team from Brazil.

Among the heroes of that game for the Americans was Naomi Girma, widely considered internationally as the best defender in women’s soccer.

In the medal ceremony that followed the game, the only people to receive gold medals were the players, as the International Olympic Committee designates that medals are solely awarded to athletes. Not even coaches receive a medal at the Olympics.

Shortly after the medal ceremony ended, Girma left the celebration of her teammates and headed toward the area where the medical staff of the U.S. women’s team had seats. There, she immediately found a young woman who is part of the medical staff, someone with whom she has forged a friendship during the past few years.

Reaching her friend, Girma took the gold medal that was draped around her neck and placed it around the neck of the young medical person, who immediately dissolved into tears. The pure joy and touching embrace between the two women were captured in a video and a photo that only a few people have ever seen.

Girma’s gesture was not only one of friendship but gratitude—gratitude for what her friend had contributed to keep the members of the team healthy and prepared for the grind of Olympic competition.

Ah, the power of gratitude.

It’s hoped that you have experienced that kind of gratitude. Even better, maybe you’ve provided that sense of gratitude for someone.

As memorable and moving as that Olympic scene was, most of us at some point in our lives have also been on the opposite side of gratitude—the absence of gratitude.

Maybe it’s a boss who doesn’t recognize the hard work, skill and quality that has been put into a project or a daily work approach and instead focuses on a perceived fault, a boss who makes time to be critical but doesn’t take time for a thank you.

Maybe it’s a coach who doesn’t appreciate the commitment, hard work and loyalty of a player to the team and instead focuses on the physical limits of the player.

Maybe it’s a spouse who focuses on a perceived weakness of the other spouse instead of celebrating the gifts that he or she brings to the marriage.

Maybe it’s a parent who wishes a child would be more whatever instead of embracing and celebrating the qualities the child has.

Maybe it’s a teenager who focuses on the faults of their parents instead of their love.

The likelihood is that at some point in our lives nearly all of us have experienced the absence of gratitude.

At the same time, the likelihood is that at some point in our lives nearly all of us have been guilty of a lack of gratitude.

I’ve been a member of both those groups. Have you?

I share these thoughts about the great gift of gratitude—and the disheartening, spirit-robbing absence of gratitude—as we approach another season of Lent.

Many of us, myself included, usually view Lent as a time of sacrifice, as a time of “giving up” things.

But what if we approach this Lent as a season of gratitude, as an opportunity to grow in gratitude toward God and each other?

What if we make an extra effort to not only give up our favorite dessert but to savor the sweetness and richness of the people in our lives?

What if we focus on the beyond-generous, life-changing gift that Christ gave us?

What if we also focus on being grateful to God for the people he has placed in our lives, the gifts he has given us and the opportunity for salvation he has made possible for us?

Let us embrace God’s great gift of gratitude.

Let us grow in his goodness and his grace.
 

(John Shaughnessy is the assistant editor of The Criterion. He can be reached at jshaughnessy@archindy.org.) †