A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke (17:11-19)
As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem,
he traveled through Samaria and Galilee.
As he was entering a village, ten persons with leprosy met him.
They stood at a distance from him and raised their voices, saying,
“Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!”
And when he saw them, he said,
“Go show yourselves to the priests.”
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.
Jesus said in reply, “Ten were cleansed, were they not?
Where are the other nine?
Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?”
Then he said to him, “Stand up and go;
your faith has saved you.”
(The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ!)
Reflection: Give thanks to God
Happy Thanksgiving! Thank you for joining us today for today’s Gospel reflection, and thank you to everyone for praying with us through the months and years as we daily discern God’s teachings and how best to serve our Lord Jesus!
Today’s Gospel reading is about gratitude. What speaks to us today? Well for me it is when one of the ten lepers, realizing he had been healed, returned to Jesus, glorifying God in all humility, awe and great wonder as he fell at Jesus’ feet with immense gratitude. And the question that come to mind is: Why did only one come back to thank our Lord Jesus? That is 10% of the group, one out of the 10. What happened to the other 9? We can suppose that they were obeying Jesus’ command to show themselves to the priest. However, it is astonishing to read that only one of the ten was “filled with gratitude for God” and quickly came back to thank our Lord Jesus. Are we also quick to realize the blessings that we have received? Do we recognize the blessings that we receive are from God? How do we express our gratitude?
God has provided for our every need. If we take a moment and really think about it, we can hopefully realize that our mere existence where we currently are sitting, walking, traveling or resting in this world is held together and kept whole by our Heavenly Father as we exist on earth as part of one of innumerable celestial bodies of matter within this vast universe that God created. Every molecule that makes up our very being, to the very place where we currently are in time, space and continuum will not exist if not through the will of our Heavenly Father. God saw us and knit us together within our mother’s womb as we can read from Psalm 139, and God foresaw when we will exist, who we will be, how we will become, and how we will serve him. Every fiber of our being and even the air that we breathe, even all the food, water, the weather, the plants and animals, mountains, oceans and plains, our talents and treasures, are all a blessings from our mighty God! How much more when we are ill like what happened to the ten lepers, during a time when a cure was not yet available? Such a beautiful blessing to be healed from our diseases and ailments! Do we take our blessings for granted? May it not be so!
Give thanks to God. As followers of our Lord Jesus in our world full of distractions, we may sometimes forget that existence and everything we have and is around us is a blessing. In humility, may we express our gratitude to God and recognize that our lives are dependent on all of God’s provisions, and everything we are and have, are from Him. Thank you, Heavenly Father for the presence of all families, friends, and the privilege to be one of your very good creations! Thank you for our abilities, our senses, our ability to think, our emotions, our jobs, for providing a roof over our heads, for providing for all of our needs from the food and water that we receive, and even the air that we breathe! Thank you for journeying with us daily with every single person, and for your great love and the love of your Son, our savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for dwelling within our hearts of all the faithful through your Holy Spirit. Thank you for being our loving, kind, righteous, compassionate and awesome God!
Action for the Day:
Make a list of blessings that we have received. Include the people who have been blessings to us. In silent prayer, pray for an increase of our faith, express our gratitude to our Heavenly Father. Make amends where needed and reconcile with God and our neighbor. Share our gratitude to everyone.
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