28^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Gospel – Luke 17:11-19

Thank You!

Church of Primacy of Peter, Tabgha

 An atheist was walking through the woods one day admiring all that evolution had created. "What majestic trees! What a powerful river! What beautiful animals!" he said to himself. As he was walking alongside the river he heard a rustling in the bushes behind him.

Turning to look, he saw an 8 ft. grizzly bear beginning to charge toward him. He ran as fast as he could down the path. He looked over his shoulder and saw the bear was rapidly closing on him. Somehow he ran even faster, so scared that tears came to his eyes. He looked again and the bear was even closer. Heart pounding in his chest, he tried to run faster yet. But alas, he tripped and fell to the ground. As he rolled over to pick himself up the bear was right over him, reaching for him with its left paw and raising it's right paw to strike him.  And the atheist cries out:   "OH MY GOD!"

Time stopped. The bear froze. The forest was silent. Even the river stopped moving.

As a brilliant light shone upon the man a thunderous voice came from all around. "You Deny My Existence For All These Years, Teach Others That I Don"t Exist; And Even Credit Creation To Some Cosmic Accident. Do You Really Expect Me To Help You Out Of This Predicament? Am I To Suddenly Count You As A Believer?"

As difficult as it was, the atheist looked directly into the light and said "you are right!  It would be hypocritical to ask to be a Christian after all these years, but perhaps you could make the bear a Christian?"

"Very Well", said The Voice. The light went out. The river ran. The sounds of the forest resumed, and the bear dropped down on his knees, brought both paws together, bowed his head and spoke: "Lord, for this food which I am about to receive. I give Thee thanks"

Today’s first reading and the Gospel have a lot in common!  They both tell a story of a miracle.  They both speak of a man suffering from the disease of leprosy!  Both of those men are non-Jews.  One is Naaman a foreigner, a commander of the Syrian army.  And the other, that 10^th leper is a Samaritan, already treated as an outcast by the Jews!  And most importantly, once they realize they have been cured, they both return and give thanks for their healing!   Despite how they had been treated in the past, they give thanks!  They are grateful!   They are thankful!

A simple thank you!  That’s the least you would expect after Jesus cured the ten lepers in today’s Gospel.  Given how lepers were shunned at the time, Jesus didn’t just heal them of their disease; He basically gifted them with a new life, a chance to return to their family and friends and start anew.  So, was that too much to ask of the other 9 to offer those 2 words? Were they so caught up in the gift, in just themselves, that they forgot a simple act of gratitude?

You only have to stop at the grocery store or Walgreens today and see all the decorations and candy set out for Halloween.  In fact, some stores have already set up Christmas trees and wreaths and lights!  We still have over 2 months before December 25 and already the holidays have begun!

The closer we get to the holidays, the more I am reminded of one simple memory from my childhood.  It’s not putting up the Christmas decorations or scouring the woods near our home for the tree; it’s not even Christmas morning and opening the presents.  No, it’s the ‘thank-you’s’ we were expected to make. 

Whether it was Christmas day and we were shuttled to the phone to thank the relatives for the presents or it was the thank-you cards we had to write out the day after.  Whatever form, the child in me always felt put out that I had to step away from all those wonderful new presents and playing with my new toys and say thank you to my relatives and friends!   I always saw it as a chore to be over and done with as quickly as possible so that I could get back to my presents.

Times change, of course, and we all hopefully realize the importance of saying thank you, much less hearing those words from someone we love and cherish.

Maybe we, at times, are not all that different from those other 9 lepers.  We pray to God so often and FOR so many things – healing, peace, wisdom, patience, understanding, even financial security with a winning lottery ticket.  But too often, I think we forget to offer a prayer of thanksgiving to God for answering our prayers, a simple prayer of gratitude for His constant presence in our lives,

That one leper, a Samaritan, is the only one who returned to thank Jesus.  And it wasn’t a simple handshake or a nod of the head or just a simple “thank you”.  His gratitude was life-changing.  He fell down on his knees praising God in a loud voice and thanked Jesus.

We are all people of faith; it is a faith rooted in thankfulness!   May we constantly remind ourselves that gratitude goes hand in hand with that faith.  That we are a thankful people as well!  Thankful for all that we have and for all that we have received!

May our prayers of thanksgiving and gratitude always be as fervent and heart-felt as our prayers of petition!  Deo Gratias!