Readings: 2 Kings
5:14-17; 2 Timothy 2:8-13; Lk 17:11-19
Where Are the
other Nine?
The Eucharist is the greatest act of
thanksgiving we can ever render to God. According to the Catechism of the
Catholic Church, nos.1359 and 1360, “The Eucharist, the sacrament of our
salvation accomplished by Christ on the cross, is also a sacrifice of praise in
thanksgiving for the work of creation. In the Eucharistic sacrifice the whole
of creation loved by God is presented to the Father through the death and the
Resurrection of Christ. Through Christ the Church can offer the sacrifice of
praise in thanksgiving for all that God had made good, beautiful, and just in
creation and in humanity.” It explains further, “The Eucharist is a sacrifice
of thanksgiving to the Father, a blessing by which the Church expresses her
gratitude to God for all his benefits, for all that he has accomplished through
creation, redemption, and sanctification. Eucharist means first of all
“thanksgiving.” At Mass we gather around the Eucharistic table as a family of
God’s people, to give thanks to God for the gift of life, for good health, for
our families, for friends, for our nation and for everything God has done for
us.
It is surprising then, why churches are
not full to capacity, with standing rooms only, with grateful people singing
God’s praises for the blessings received. The empty pews raise some questions
in our minds, could Christ be asking us the same question he asked the
Samaritan leper cured of his leprosy: “Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where
are the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to
God?” Being grateful to God for blessings received should come to everyone
naturally. And so should it be, even with favors received from brothers, sisters
and friends. Unfortunately, we are living in a world where selfishness,
self-centeredness and greed have given way to a false sense of entitlement, making
us feel that whatever is given us is ours by right. Hence, it is becoming more
and more difficult to appreciate the contributions that people have made
towards our successes in life. It is true, according to Criss Jami, that “Man
is not, by nature, deserving of all that he wants. When we think that we are
automatically entitled to something, that is when we start walking all over
others to get it.”
This brings us to the readings of today.
Two men, both foreigners and outsiders, are presented to us, to teach us the
importance of gratitude. Outsiders, whether Samaritans or lepers, are the
special focus of the ministry of Jesus. This is because they were open to
seeing God at work in a way that ordinary believers are not. After his healing,
Naaman recognized the special status of Israel’s saving Lord and declared, “Now
I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel.” The sincere
gratitude of Naaman towards the God of Israel and his prophet Elisha, brought
him a gift far more precious than the healing of his leprosy. He received faith in God and was determined
to serve Him faithfully. “If you will not accept (the gift he brought), please let me, your servant, have two
mule-loads of earth, for I will no longer offer holocaust or sacrifice to any
other god except to the Lord.” (Gospel
reading). “Obedience to the prophet healed him and his faith in God brought
him healing of his sins as well. Humility
obtained for him the cure of his skin disease. Gratitude to God obtained for
him a far greater grace: faith in the true God. Jesus was pleased to see
one of those lepers, the Samaritan, coming back to him, praising God for the
favor received. It pained Him that the other nine had not come back to do the
same. He certainly expected them back, not because he wanted to receive their
gratitude as to enable Him to complete His work of love, of which their healing
was only the first step: to bring them
to faith.” (Philip John, SSP;
Premdas, SSP. New Horizon Homilies)
We must be willing to teach our children
to be appreciative and to show gratitude for the blessings and favors received.
“Someone once asked a Southerner… ‘Where does the South actually begin?’ The
Southerner said, proudly, ‘When you notice the children say, “Yes, sir,” and
“No, ma’am,”’ “But good manners are not a matter of geography. There are many
polite children in Caribou, Maine; Wichita, Kansas; and Tacoma, Washington;
as there are in Natchez, Mississippi.
Children don’t learn politeness from a postmark. They learn it from a parent.
“You’ll know you’ve done a good job of teaching when your child says, ‘Thank
you for teaching me to say, “Thank you.”’” (Mark
Link, SJ, Sunday Homilies Year C).
Today’s readings remind us to say ‘Thank
you’ to God for his love and mercy towards us. We must also teach our children
not to take anything and anybody for granted. Everything we have is a gift,
freely given by God. God also uses people to help us in our endeavors on earth.
Many times, some of us have been ungrateful to our parents. To people like this,
King Lear said, “How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is to have a thankless
child.” We are also often ungrateful to our fellow-men. We can never pay off
the debt of gratitude we owe to many men and women who have assisted us on the
way to becoming the men and women we are today. How easily we forget that a
friend, a teacher, a doctor, a surgeon or a colleague has done something for us
which is impossible to repay. But the tragedy is that we often do not even try
to repay it. “Blow, blow, thou winter wind, thou are not so unkind as man’s
ingratitude.” (William Shakespeare, from ‘As
you like it’).
The questions to ponder this week are: who
am I? Am I always grateful to God for favors received? Or will Christ say of
me, “Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine?” Have I taught
my children to say ‘Thank you’ for blessings received? Or have they got the
false sense of entitlement from my behavior and my inability to be thankful?
Maybe we could set aside some minutes this week during dinner (if we still eat
dinner together) to have each family member give thanks to God for some special
things that happened that day. This should not only be done during Thanksgiving
Day once a year. We have reasons to be grateful daily. Count your blessings one
by one, and you will be surprised what God has done for you. “Thanksgiving –
the giving of thanks – to God for all His blessings should be one of the most
distinctive marks of the believer in Jesus Christ. We must not allow a spirit
of ingratitude to harden our hearts and chill our relationship with God and
with others.” (Fr. John Pichappilly: ‘Kindle
Your Spirit’; Homiletic Reflections for Sundays (ABC)). Let us pray with
the poet George Herbert: “O God, you have given us so much. Give us one thing
more – a grateful heart.” Amen.
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