Be Grateful At All Times

𝐍𝐎𝐕. 𝟏𝟐, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐋 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐓. 𝐉𝐎𝐒𝐀𝐏𝐇𝐀𝐓, 𝐁𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲𝐫

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈: 𝐖𝐢𝐬 𝟔:𝟏-𝟏𝟏

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟖𝟐:𝟑-𝟒, 𝟔-𝟕 “𝐑𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐮𝐩, 𝐎 𝐆𝐨𝐝, 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐋𝐤 𝟏𝟕:𝟏𝟏-𝟏𝟗

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍.” (𝒗.19) 

          What we have today is a moving story that should remind us of our attitude towards God. It teaches us to be always grateful for the blessings we have received especially those that God has poured out on us even if we didn’t ask for it.

         God sent his only begotten Son so that whomsoever believe in him will not perish but will have eternal life (𝐉𝐧 𝟑:𝟏𝟔). God need not send his Son, but he did and Jesus had to suffer and die on the cross for us – to ransom us from our sinfulness.

         We all know the story. We have heard it many times. 𝐉𝐧 𝟑:𝟏𝟔 after all is what is largely known as everybody’s text, and we have practically heard countless homilies, sermons and reflections on this, but the question is – have we expressed our gratitude to God for all he’s done for us. Do we wake up in the morning and say: “𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘦.” Many of us don’t even offer grace before meals anymore.

         Such ingratitude to God probably has its roots in the environment we grew up with which is the reason why many of us became adults without realizing there is so much to thank God for in our lives. In fact, even the lives we now have are on account of God’s generosity and we should always consider it a blessing that we still woke up knowing God has given us another day.

         Going back to the Gospel passage today, we most certainly will be moved to ask about the nine of the ten lepers in this story. We see Jesus who was practically amazed at the ingratitude of the nine lepers as he asked: “𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒆, 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚?” (𝒗.17). And so, to distinguish the one leper who returned Jesus continued asking: “𝑾𝒂𝒔 𝒏𝒐 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒆𝒓?” (𝒗.18).        

        To get right inside this Gospel passage which does not appear in any of the other gospels, we see Jesus moving on the road between Galilee and Samaria and he was met by ten lepers who stayed at a distance – about 50 yards away – because lepers are considered as unclean and are prohibited by Jewish law to stand at a distance from a clean or healthy person.

         We also see in this story that in time of great need even those who are separated by racial prejudice forget that they were Jews and Samaritan and what they only know was that they were in need. In fact, even in this post-modern era one of the factors that draw people together is their common need for God.

         What comes as a surprise was that the ten lepers did not ask for healing but what they did ask was “𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐲” as they cried out from a distance: “𝑱𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒔, 𝑴𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓, 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒏 𝒖𝒔.” (𝒗.13) And moved with pity and compassion and without telling them they were healed, Jesus told them to show themselves to the priest (𝐯.𝟏𝟒). And you might ask why? It’s because the priests are the one who are to declare them clean and free of leprosy. As they went, they were cleansed.

         It is at this point that the drama begins because of the ten lepers only one returned to thank Jesus who called the leper a foreigner (𝐯.𝟏𝟖) because he was a Samaritan and that meant that he and Jesus were divided by tradition and cultural differences.

         Jesus knew he would again incur the ire of the Pharisees because it was unlawful in those days for a Jew to associate with a Samaritan but Jesus effectively tore down the barrier separating the two tribes when he gave credence to the public confession of gratitude by the Samaritan and rewarding him when he said: “𝑹𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒈𝒐, 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍.” (𝒗.19)        

         The question now is, do we find anything significant in this passage? Aren’t we being reminded of the times when we failed to express our gratitude to those who have helped us get over our needs in the past? Are we like those who never came back when they got what they wanted? Perhaps the reason we are not expressive with regards to being grateful is because we don’t know what thankfulness is all about.

         Let me thus run you through the four significant aspects of thankfulness and we can find this in 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦 𝟗𝟐 where the Psalmist tells us that having a grateful spirit is: 1) 𝑻𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒖𝒔; (2) 𝑻𝒐 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕; (3) 𝑻𝒐 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝑮𝒐𝒅’𝒔 𝒈𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 (4) 𝑻𝒐 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒈𝒊𝒇𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇, 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒄𝒆𝒔.        

         To be thankful for all that God has done for you is a necessary ingredient towards a deeper relationship with the source of everything that you possess right now because one of the most glaring signs of rejecting God is forgetting to thank him.

         How about your relationship with your parents? In your growing up years you were totally dependent on your parents for almost everything you need yet there are instances I’m sure when aging parents have become a nuisance in the lives of many people.

         Don’t you also have a debt to pay to friends who may have sympathized with you when you were at the low point of your life? Perhaps to your teacher who unselfishly imparted his wisdom to you that ensured your future. Or maybe even a priest who has offered you valuable counsel in times you may have reached a dead end.

         Aren’t you also ungrateful to God whom you remember and pray to with great intensity during the rainy days in your life and whom you tend to forget when the dark clouds pass. God gave us his only Son, and we’ve never even said thank you Lord.

         Today, God is reminding us to do what the Samaritan did. He came back and prostrated himself at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. For all the bountiful blessings we have received, God expects us to be grateful and one of the ways we can thank God for what he’s done is for us to start looking for those whom God has richly blessed but who have not even dared look back much less return.

         As Christian disciples, we have a duty to bring back to God those who are no longer practicing their faith as baptized Catholic Christians. In the words of 𝐏𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭 𝐗𝐕𝐈: “𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘶𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 “𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥” 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘦 “𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦.”

         We need not search for new doctrines, and we don’t even have to reinvent the wheel. All we need to do is to simply reintroduce the beauty and perennial newness of the encounter with Christ to the often distracted and confused heart and mind of the men and women of our time, above all to ourselves.

         And in today’s Gospel passage, the Church invites us all to contemplate the face of the Lord Jesus Christ, to enter the mystery of his existence given for us on the cross, reconfirmed in his resurrection from the dead as the Father's gift and imparted to us through the Spirit.

         In the person of Jesus, the mystery of God the Father's love for the entire human family is revealed. So, we must return to the source of all Grace and give him thanks because thankfulness is the primary characteristic in the life of a Christian. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 – 𝘕𝘰𝘷. 12, 2025)