There are four words we pray at every mass as we open the Eucharistic Prayer. The words come in the Preface as part of a dialogue between the priest and the people:
Priest:  The Lord be with you.   People:  And with your spirit.
Priest:  Lift up your hearts.   People:  We lift them up to the Lord.
Priest:  Let us give thanks to the Lord, our God.   People:  It is right and just.

The priest continues:
It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere to give you thanks, Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God, through Christ our Lord.

Through Jesus, we are to always and everywhere offer thanks to the Father. There are four words in the prayer that tell us much about why this thanksgiving is necessary. These words are right and just, duty and salvation. 

The words right and just are adjectives, which describe the subject. In the prayer we learn that is truly right and just, or really and actually, right and just.

In the Latin form of the prayer, for right, we find the word dignum, meaning worthy or meriting.  I came across a 9th century homily that specifically tells us why it is right to give God thanks. He is a King, great, fair, powerful, strong, holy, pure, just, knowing, wise, merciful, loving, beneficent, without beginning, without end, without age, and without decay. We should want to thank Him every day.

The prayer tells us that to always and everywhere thank Him is also truly just. Just or justum in the Latin prayer means fair, right, due, or proper. As I meditated on the list, from King to without decay, it was easy to see why it is truly just to give God what is due. He deserves it.

There are two nouns connected to the subject of the prayer by the verb is. The subject is that we would always and everywhere give God thanks and these nouns are duty and salvation.

Duty comes from the Latin word æquum, meaning what is right or fair. When you get a drivers license, it is your duty to be a safe driver. When you work for someone, it is your duty to be at work on time and be a valuable employee. 

When it comes to always thanking God, consider it your job because always thanking Him is your salvation.

Salvation, or salutáre, in Latin, is a matter of eternal life or death. While it is a free gift from God,  it is ours for the taking, but it is a gift that is accepted on God’s terms, not ours. 

If we come to know a God who is a King, great, fair, powerful, strong, holy, pure, just, knowing, wise, merciful, loving, beneficent, without beginning, without end, without age, and without decay, it is easy to always and everywhere give Him thanks. We know and believe that it is truly right and just to thank Him.

But what about the times that we are disappointed? I spent some time trying to think of something that we might not thank God for. There was really only one thing on the list: not getting our own way. However, when we get to know God, we seem to quickly figure out that He had a better idea anyway.

There is something else about always and everywhere giving God thanks, and that is, “You [Lord], are holy enthroned on the praises of Israel.” (Ps 22:3 ESV) The Lord inhabits the praise of his people. Our thanksgiving brings God so close that He becomes present. 

To always and everywhere give Him thanks is to live in the presence of God.