Greetings on this the Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time 4:00 PM
Readings: 2 Kings 5:14-17; Psalm 98:1, 2-3, 3-4; 2 Timothy 2:8-13; Luke 17:11-19
Note – The 730 AM Version Will attach the video when available.
Summary
From our gospel acclamation today: In all circumstances, give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus (1 Thes 5:18).
Generally, this sacred passage from Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians is often used to remind us to be thankful to the Lord when things are going poorly – a reminder to be grateful in difficult circumstances. But in today’s readings, both in Second Kings and in the Gospel of Luke, it is a reminder that thankfulness and gratitude are for a circumstance to give thanks to the Lord in Jesus Christ – when things go well.
Sounds obvious enough. But our gospel story today makes note that it is in fact usually the case we are not grateful (9 out of ten people and 9 out ten times for all people).
So Naaman went down and plunged into the Jordan seven times, according to the word of the man of God. His flesh became again like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. Naaman said:[to Elisha] …your servant will no longer make burnt offerings or sacrifices to any other god except the LORD. [And again] As [Jesus] was entering a village, ten lepers met him. They stood at a distance from him and raised their voice, saying, “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!” As they were going they were cleansed. And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. He was a Samaritan (2 Kg 5:14, 17; Lk 17:12-13, 14b-16).
Naaman, the army commander of the king of Aram (2 Kg 5:1) and the leper Samaritan both foreigner[s] returned to give thanks to God?” Then [Jesus] said to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you.” (Lk 17:18-19). As to ungratefulness, in Naaman’s case, the ungrateful heart of Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, he sought personal gain from the healing of Naaman. And, in the gospel story, the 9 Sons of Israel – those who should have known better – did not give thanks and did not express faith. Only the foreigner.
Are gratitude and thanksgiving that important? Yes, yes it is.
It is following The First Commandment. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me. … It is written: “You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.” (CCC, 2084).
Did not the miraculous healing quality as freedom from bondage, was it not a ‘great thing’?
To adore God is to acknowledge, in respect and absolute submission, the “nothingness of the creature” who would not exist but for God. To adore God is to praise and exalt him and to humble oneself, as Mary did in the Magnificat, confessing with gratitude that he has done great things and holy is his name. The worship of the one God sets man free from turning in on himself, from the slavery of sin and the idolatry of the world (CCC, 2097).
God sets man free from turning in on himself (unhealthy self-centeredness). An existence where we are our own reason and we are our own end – that is, a life divorced from God and from one another. The worship of God (thanksgiving is a type worship) redirects human energy away from self-centeredness and toward a relationship with Him, ultimately freeing people from guilt, shame, and the limitations of a purely self-focused existence.
- The Samaritan was set free by faith … praising the Lord, falling to his knees in thanksgiving. Healed in body and spirit. Set free from bondage. And he never read the Catechism, never been inside the Temple and never knew the warm embrace of common worship, until now.
The exterior ailment of leprosy was the visible expression of the interior state, until Jesus. Now all things are new for him.
Reflection
NINE REASONS WE DON’T SAY THANK YOU.
- Jesus didn’t heal me, it was a spontaneous.
- He healed me but he must do it, not optional for him.
- I didn’t actually have leprosy, it was just a scab.
- I’ll do it later.
- I’ve got things to do first.
- I shouldn’t have gotten leprosy to begin with – it’s his fault anyway.
- He took too long.
- I healed myself.
- It’s not a big deal, I’m grateful but let’s not make a production of it.
Personal Reflection
Let us live a life in the newness of the Gospel. Thankful we can call Jesus friend and Lord. Thankful he heals us from many ailments, difficulties and woes.
AND
AND
when things go well.
In all circumstances, give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus (1 Thes 5:18).
Full text: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/101225.cfm
Peace be with you,
Deacon Gerry