Saturday – 26th Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel – Luke 10:17-24

Praise and Thanksgiving

Mass, Basilica of Annunciation, Nazareth

You remember coming home with a great report card?  I mean GREAT!  And you were so excited you just couldn’t contain your excitement; you couldn’t wait to get home and show it off!  How proud you were and how proud you hoped your parents would be!

So in today’s Gospel, the 72 disciples return to Jesus with a progress report!  And they are beyond happy! Look at what we did!  Listen to all that we accomplished!  Even demons responded to us!  I’m almost waiting for them to break out in song: “We are the Champions!”

So Jesus feels the need to bring them back down to earth a bit.  It’s not about YOU!  Do not focus on what YOU have done but why it happened and how it happened!  None of this is possible without the Father in Heaven.  It is only through Him that you are able to accomplish great things.  We know that to be true, even with great report cards.  Did you really do it all yourself?  Didn’t mom nag you about getting your homework done?  Didn’t Dad help you with that science project?  Heck, even your older sister showed you how to solve that math problem!

And then Jesus does something He normally does alone, away from the crowds.  He prays PUBLICLY!  He says a prayer of praise and thanksgiving to the Father.  We need to remember that!   Too often our prayers tend to be prayers of petition asking God for something but we forget to come back and offer thanks to Him for favors and blessings received!

So rejoice in all you have accomplished!  But remember to give thanks for all the blessings the Creator has bestowed on you.  And remember!  You could not have done it alone!  

Great Spirit, thank you for listening to my prayers!

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