Twenty Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)

II Kgs 5.14-17;
Ps 97;
II Tim 2.8-13;
Lk 17.11-19

Gift giving is complicated. There are subtle rules best not to break.

In today’s first reading, we learnt that Naaman was commander the army of the king of Aram. Although he was seen as a great man,he is bind to his king, he must accompany his king when he offers sacrifice to the gods of his nation, but it will be on the Holy Ground of Israel where he met God that his true faith will be celebrated.

After his cure, Naaman brings Elisha a treasure of gifts in gratitude for saving him from leprosy. Elisha will not take them. He serves the God of Israel who is the giver and restorer of life. Naaman who has met God in this miracle takes with him two mule-loads of earth. He will use the holy ground of Israel in Syria. Naaman acknowledged God has God of all the nations.

In today’s Gospel passage, One of ten lepers falls at the feet of Jesus to thank him. He is a poor man, and this is his only gift. He is a Samaritan, but his gratitude and faith shows that he will never forget what Jesus has done for him. In the great miracle that gives meaning to all the other miracles that Jesus performed, he is also saved.

Naaman and the Samaritan leper do not know the God of Israel, but they meet God in their misfortune and respond to the gift that God gives them. We see their gratitude and faith. Last week Luke told the apostles that if they had faith the size of a mustard seed, they could say to the sycamore, ‘Be uprooted and transplanted it into the sea,’ and it would obey them. Today two men by their faith are transplanted into the boundless sea of God’s gift.

The poet Mary Oliver in her poem, ‘Good Morning’, describes beautiful gifts around us. Her concluding words may be a wakeup call to us about appreciating God’s gifts: “It must be a great disappointment to God if we are not dazzled at least ten times a day”. One leper was, nine were not!

What is the proportion of thanksgiving in your prayers compared with requests for help? How much time do you spend thanking God for the many blessings we enjoy? Most of us, in our personal prayer, pass rapidly over thanksgiving, assuming we ever begin it. Yet there is so much to thank God for. Our membership of the Church, the Church itself, the sacraments, those whom we love and who love us, our friends, our health, our material blessings, our opportunities… The list is endless. In truth, there is more to thank God for than there are needs to seek his help with.

In the second reading, Saint Paul speaks of the Good News. He looks forward to the salvation that is in Christ Jesus and the eternal glory that comes with it. Each time we look forward to the salvation we hope for it is a moment to give thanks.

One of the ancient alternative names for the Mass is the Eucharist. This name comes from the Greek word for to give thanks. In modern Greece the word for thank-you is very similar to the word Eucharist, though pronounced somewhat differently. Central to the Mass is the Eucharistic Prayer, which begins with the dialogue between priest and people: The Lord be with you / And also with you; Lift up your hearts / We lift them up to the Lord; Let us give thanks to the Lord our God / It is right to give him thanks and praise. The Preface which follows always celebrates some particular aspect of our salvation, usually beginning with words such as Father, all-powerful and ever-living God, we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks.

In the canon, before the dominical words, we hear such words as these: The day before he suffered, he took bread in his sacred hands, and looking up to heaven, to you his almighty Father, he gave you thanks and praise. In celebrating the first Mass on Holy Thursday, Our Lord Himself made the solemn offering of thanks an integral part of the prayers repeated by the celebrant at every Mass. Before the consecration of the chalice, again he gave you thanks and praise. In the Second Eucharistic Prayer the priest, on behalf of all present, continues, we thank you for counting us worthy to stand in your presence and serve you, while in the Third Eucharistic Prayer we hear the words, we offer you in thanksgiving this holy and living sacrifice.

Bearing in mind the abundance of texts with phrases such as these, it is amazing how easily many of us probably pass through each Sunday or weekday Mass without noticing the theme of thankfulness! Many people here participate in the Mass with devotion. But if Our Lord’s experience with the lepers is anything to go by, only ten per cent of us will have consciously offered God thanksgiving in our hearts.

What matters most is, of course, that the Mass is offered and that we faithfully take part actively in its celebration. Nothing in the Mass depends on the congregation’s or the priest’s attitude of thanksgiving, or lack of it. But what a marvellous opportunity we have at Mass today to begin the week with a spirit of gratitude. Like the psalmist, we can sing, all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. How marvellous it is to think of Catholics going to Sunday Mass in every continent – possibly these days even when times are hard. To begin the week by consciously thanking Our Lord, personally, for dying on the Cross for us would be a holy action that will influence our attitudes as the days pass.

Have you ever noticed what a difference it makes when people thank you? If your employer, or teacher – or someone at Church – thanks you for doing something, it can create a new sense of direction and purpose, renew your enthusiasm in your job or the task in hand, and even alter your attitude to others. When we thank others, it instils in us a sense of valuing other people, their ideas and the contribution they can make.

When we turn our hearts towards God in thankfulness, marvellously we discover both sets of blessings. The more we thank God, the more we recognise and value his wonderful saving deeds. The more we thank Our Lord for His death on the Cross for us, the closer to Him we become, and the more generous we are to others. In society we hear much nowadays about vicious circles and virtuous cycles. Thanksgiving is certainly a virtuous cycle. Our thankfulness to God will soon spill out into the Church and into the lives of the people we meet.

At Mass then, let us give thanks to the Lord our God. Try to participate in this offering of the holy sacrifice with thanksgiving in your heart for the saving deeds of Christ and for the blessings you enjoy. And try consciously to carry on this motif of thanksgiving into your daily prayer and your life in the week ahead. See what a difference it can make, and return next week to thank God again and again, and forever, and ever!
Amen!

Fr Joseph Osho