WHAT ARE YOU GRATEFUL FOR TODAY?

HOMILY FOR THE 28^TH SUNDAY OF THE ORDINARY TIME, YEAR C

REV. FR. EZEKOKA PETER ONYEKACHI

Now, one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice, and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks (Luke 17:15-16).

Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel; so accept now a present from your servant (2 Kings 5:15)

The Gospel (Luke 17: 11 -19) alongside the First Reading (2 Kings 5:14-17) is so clear about the theme of gratitude. Jesus healed ten men who were lepers, but only one (a Samaritan) returned to give thanks to God for the healing. Naaman was healed of his leprosy; and then returned to show some gratitude to God by the gifts he desired to offer to the man of God (Elisha). The lessons here are so clear. However, I wish to bring out some salient points about gratitude from the three points below extracted from these episodes.

But permit me to correct an impression about this passage of the healing of the ten lepers: the healing of the ten lepers has nothing to do (in context, content or pretext) with tithe and tithing which many preachers use to back up their interest in tithes. We must disregard any usage of this passage as a back-up for the teaching on tithe.

1. Beyond the healing of the leprosy disease

Persons with skin diseases were not clean or holy and therefore were isolated from concourse with the Holy people of God in cities and were banned from participation in the Temple worship of God, the Holy one. Leviticus 13 and 14 gives us a full detail of how those with such a skin disease are relegated and separated from the rest of the peoples (cf. Numbers 5:2-3). From these passages, we realize that there is, prior to the healing of these men a high, solid boundary separating these men from the rest of their brothers and sisters.

a) Naaman was aware of this. He was aware of what leprosy as a disease can deny him of. It can even make him loose his post as the commander of the army of Syria. But because he enjoyed favours from both the Lord God and his human superior (the king of Syria), he gained the opportunity of meeting with the prophet Elisha in Israel. So his healing gave him all the more some security in his job, but beyond that an acceptance of him in the community. He was very grateful for this. He was then pushed to show appreciation which is a noble act to have done. How many of us are loved by God but do not even remember to love God back?

b) The ten lepers of the gospel experienced this separation too. And actually, it was this separatedness that brought them together. Having been ostracized from their natural community by the mere event of this illness, they tried to build a fake community that can never last. This sort of community or union is bound to fail and be destroyed for her initial purpose is based on something not divinely willed or is it humanly pleasurable.

i) Many Christians today are into fake communities due to particular illnesses and sins we have entangled ourselves with. We must be aware that those unions can never last and are bound to crumble. We find ourselves separated from our natural community and from our faith community. And the quagmire here is that we are unable to free ourselves from the entanglements and chains of these illnesses and sins. We only need Jesus to pass by and heal. Paul made it clear that one who lives in Jesus is not in chains. The word of God is not chained (2 Tim 2:8-13). That is why he who reads and abides in it cannot be chained. We need Jesus to restore us again; but we must have to cry out like these ten lepers (Jesus, Master, have mercy on us) or like the blind Bartimeaus: Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me (Mark 10:47-48). Only Jesus can liberate us from such prison where we have been made to suffer for faults of our and for faults of not ours.

ii) Jesus, full of compassion healed these men, and thus commanded them to go and show themselves to the priest to be certified worthy of mingling with others in the community. Thus, by the act of healing the leprosy of these ten men, Jesus was not only healing them of the physical ailment, but also restoring the ten back to the human society and community where before now they had been ostracized and banned from. Jesus heals us of all ailments and restores us back to our original state of sanctity, of peace and of utmost tranquillity. These men received a double portion of God’s love but only one could reciprocate by going back to Jesus.

2. Beyond the gratitude shown by Naaman and the Samaritan

It is clear that these two characters showed gratitude for what God did in their lives. These two saw and understood what God had done in their lives. Luke was clear about this. It was  the Samaritan (not the other nine who are Jews) that saw and understood fully what has really happened. His seeing leads him to understand not only that he is healed, but that he has found salvation. His return to Jesus amounts to his conversion. He praised God for what he has done.

a) We can be healed; and not converted. Just as the return of the one man amounted to his conversion, when we return to give God thanks for what he has done in our lives, then has the process of our conversion kicked off. Gratitude paves way for conversion. Gratitude makes conversion more solid and rooted. Gratitude confirms a heart that seeks conversion. What is it that the Lord has done for you? Why are you not thankful? So many of us do not even thank God for what he has done. We are only bent on asking more. We do not even know that gratitude to God for what he has done for us leads us to a greater awareness of how we need God all the more.

b) We must learn to praise God whenever we experience wonders in our lives, and not just the human instrument. Many Christians today forget that miracles are all the handiworks of God. God uses human instruments to perpetrate his healing acts on us. We must first and foremost be grateful to Him who has done it. The Samaritan praises God for what he has done through Jesus who was God’s agent. All praise to God, not to man.

3. Beyond the questions asked by Jesus

Gratitude to God for what he has done is a sure test of faith. Where not ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praises to God except this foreigner? These are questions that prove that God wants us to be grateful to Him always. Jesus tells the Samaritan: go, your faith has saved you. A converted one is a faithful one. He now has faith. Now, he is saved. In comparison with the other nine, he is healed and saved, while they were only healed. It is also striking that the saved one is a Samaritan; the one the Jews does not consider as a chosen one. It is interesting how Luke draws his hero outside the chosen people. Be that as it may, if we consider ourselves chosen, we must strive to be the hero in Christ. If we see ourselves derailing from what we ought to be in Christ, we should make a leap of faith to become the hero which we are called to.

In all, there are various practical relevance that these episodes present to us. A Roman Philosopher has one said: “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the mother of all others” (Marcus Tullius Cicero). A show of gratitude helps a lot. Many a time, we fail to show gratitude to the people who matter in our lives. We fail to show gratitude to our teachers, our parents, our benefactors, our benefactresses, our friends. Sometimes, a simple ‘thank you’ is very far from our lips. We pride ourselves as if we are able to achieve everything on our own. The worst part of it is that we are comfortable hurting those who mean well for us; hurting those who have suffered for our good; hurting those who have suffered to see to our upliftment. Students after graduation ridicule their lecturers, and look unto them as those who dealt with them. They fail to see that without the assistance of those teachers, they may not have made it to the particular level they are. Servants tend to disregard their masters after settlement, and would even slander them. These are not Christian lifestyles. We must learn to show gratitude. Even amidst suffering and pain, there must be something to be grateful for. Discover yours and try some form of gratitude.

I end with this story (copied from the blogger, jyostna, A collection of short stories). A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign which said: I am blind, please help. There were only a few coins in the hat. A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words. Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy. That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were. The boy recognized his footsteps and asked, “Were you the one who changed my sign this morning? What did you write?” The man said, “I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way.” I wrote: Today is a beautiful day but I cannot see it.
Both signs told people that the boy was blind. But the first sign simply said the boy was blind. The second sign told people that they were so lucky that they were not blind. Should we be surprised that the second sign was more effective?  Be thankful for what you have. Be creative. Be innovative. Think differently and positively. Enjoy your day with a heart of gratitude. Enjoy the new week with a heart of gratitude, as I wish you a blessed Sunday. God bless you.