To Give Thanks
The readings for this Sunday’s lectionary remind us to focus on firstly God’s power to heal and also our right response is shaped by gratitude.
The two readings from the lectionary for this Sunday highlight healing from leprosy. The healing story in today’s Gospel is unique to Luke. Though we may have only a vague understanding what was actually termed leprosy in Jesus’ time, it was required for those suffering from this condition to stay outside the regular camp where the people of Israel dwelt. These lepers were also required to shout and so warn others away from them. In the Gospel they do shout seeking help from Jesus. They cry out, “have mercy” similar to what we heard just a couple of weeks ago when the rich man asked the same of Abraham (Luke 16:24). Their deep desire for healing was heeded to by Jesus.
Secondly, though all lepers were made clean only one returned in gratitude praising God and the fact was this person was a Samaritan and thereby an “outcast”. He is made an example of what was only appropriate for one being healed to have done viz. praising and giving thanks to God. A concrete manner of going about this as Catholics is a meaningful participation at the Eucharist. ‘Eucharist’ itself comes from Greek eucharistein which means “to give thanks”.
There are many blessings though not as dramatic as a healing from leprosy. However, it is worthwhile to take some moments especially at the end of the day to recount those blessings and give the Lord thanks. Keeping a ‘gratitude journal’ to pen down our reflections may be a concrete step to grow in the virtue of gratitude. Melody Beattie has a beautiful quote which I would like to close with:
Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. It turns problems into gifts, failures into successes, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. It can turn an existence into a real life, and disconnected situations into important and beneficial lessons. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. Gratitude makes things right.
Fr Alliston
