28th Sunday in Ordinary Time
This Sunday we are reminded to remember God’s blessings as we give thanks for the great things he has done for us. The readings tell us about healing, mercy, and the gift of faith. They help us see that faith grows stronger when we trust God . In the First Reading from the second book of kings Naaman was healed of leprosy after obeying Elisha’s instruction to wash in the Jordan. He acknowledged the God of Israel and vowed to worship only Him and he said as the lord lives I will serve him. In the Second Reading – from St Pauls letter to Timothy we are told to remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead. Paul tells us that I suffer for the gospel, but God’s word is free. Endure for salvation in Christ. If we are unfaithful, he always remains faithful.
in our Gospel Reading we hear the story of the ten Lepers and their lack of gratitude for their healing. This is one of many such examples of ingratitude that occurred during Christ’s public ministry, most of those he cured forget to thank him. In today’s incident there was one who had the decency to return and thank his benefactor, and he was the one least expected to do so. This pleased our Lord and led Him to remark on the ingratitude of the others. This Gospel story is not only about the Lepers it’s also about our lack of gratitude for the many good things that we have in our lives given to us by God. When we were youngsters growing up we were taught to say, “Thank you” by our parents when they gave us a sweet or whatever, when we didn’t we would be dutifully reminded, “What do you say?” and of course we said the magic words ‘Thank You.’ All the lepers showed great faith and confidence in Jesus’ power to heal but only one of them said thanks. They had not heard Him preach nor had they seen any of His miracles. They lived in isolation camps because of the leprosy, yet they believed the reports they had heard. The nine lepers were appreciative of what Jesus had done; we don’t know, why they didn’t bother to show their gratitude to Jesus. We can only look to ourselves to ask why we are often reluctant to say thank you for all the good things we have.
There seems to be great deal of awkwardness surrounding the attitude of gratitude and saying thank you. Personally I find that to be thanked means more to me than being given a gift for a task just done. Whatever the reason for our own ingratitude, we know that it diminishes us and those who help us. All of us have reasons to give thanks for so many things yet very few turn to the Lord with words and hearts expressing our thanks for all the wonders he has done for us in our lives. Do we have the attitude of gratitude which thanks god and those around and us for their goodness to us.When we gather each Sunday we come to join God in the midst of the assembly with gratitude in our hearts. We give praise and thanks to God and we thank him for all those who have given us their help. May all of us have the attitude of gratitude which means that we are thankful for all that we are and all that we have especially in these times when so many have little or nothing at all. Let us pray for hearts that notice blessings, voices that give thanks, and lives that reflect God’s mercy and generosity. May gratitude draw us ever closer to God and to one another especially during this Holy Year of hope.
Fullerton T 