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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