October 13, 2019

28^th Sunday in Ordinary Time (C)

My Life...One Long Hymn of Thanksgiving?

Msgr. Thomas Gervasio

Lepers appear in the today’s readings. In biblical times, leprosy was considered a curse from God for sin. It referred to many kinds of skin diseases and not just the condition we know as Hansen’s disease. Considered ritually unclean, they were social outcasts and had to live in isolation from others. Lepers were required to keep a certain distance from others and had to make their presence known by crying out, “Unclean!” When the lepers met Jesus, they did not shout, “Unclean” but “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” His response may seem rather curious. He does not approach them, touch them nor even pray over them but says: “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” Mosaic Law required that lepers obtain a certificate from the priests that would verify their cure and restore them to community life.
 
The lepers obeyed just as Naaman had obeyed Elisha to go into the Jordan seven times. Cured, Naaman returned to offer a gift of thanksgiving, but only one leper returned to thank Jesus and to our surprise, he was a Samaritan, a foreigner, an enemy of the Jews. All ten received a new life but only one could see the magnitude and the source of the blessing.
 
The Gospel of course, highlights the virtue of gratitude. Every Mass reminds us “It is our duty and our salvation to always and everywhere give thanks” to God. St. Paul poses a question we should ponder often: “What do you possess that you have not received?”
 
 During a retreat, I met a Benedictine monk. I imagined he was a monk for many years. In speaking of our ordinations, he told me that he was ordained on May 29, Pentecost Sunday. I replied, “What a wonderful day to be ordained!” He said, “O yes, and for me it is a double joy since it is my oldest daughter’s birthday!” He then explained that he had been a successful attorney, a married man and had four children and grandchildren. I asked, “Were your children surprised that you became both a priest and a monk?”
 
He said, “No! I think they were relieved because they didn’t like that I was dating after my wife died! But my life has been so blessed. I could sing one long hymn of thanksgiving.”  
 
Could we say the same? Listen to how Fr. Nouwen speaks of “living a grateful life:”

“We easily divide our lives into good things to be grateful for and bad things to forget. But with a past so divided, we cannot move freely into the future...True spiritual gratitude embraces all of our past, the good as well as the bad, the joyful as well as the sorrowful. Everything that took place brought us to this place and all of it is part of God’s guidance. That does not mean that all that happened in the past was good, but that even the bad didn’t happen outside the loving presence of God. It is very hard to bring all of our past under the light of gratitude. There are so many things we wish had never happened. But each time we have the courage to look at it all and to look at it as God looks at it; we have a deeper recognition of God’s mercy. Just as Peter’s denials did not paralyze him, so can our failures be transformed into gratitude and enable us to become messengers of hope.”