2 Kings 5:14-17 / Psalm 98 / 2 Timothy 2:8-13/ Luke 17:11-19
Theme: Gratitude: a Cultivated Virtue
Gratitude is like a rare flower found by those who desire it. Our human nature tends to take for granted favors and gifts, especially those that come from God. The Reading from the Second Book of Kings and from the Gospel reveals the exceptional gratitude of those who discover the living God and his action in their lives like a breath of fresh air (First reading & Gospel). St. Paul demonstrates his gratitude for God’s gift of faith through his suffering to the point of being cast in prison in fidelity to Jesus Christ. He exhorts Timothy to have confidence in God and persevere in the work of preaching the Gospel. God is faithful to his promises, and even Paul’s imprisonment serves the cause of the gospel(Second Reading).
Naman the Syrian in the First Reading shows us that in our bid to give gratitude to God for the blessings he has bestowed on us, we receive an everlasting gift; the gift of salvation. Naaman turned right around and asked for a gift for himself instead. “Give me two mule loads of dirt, for I want to take that back to Damascus and build an altar there for Yahweh”( 2Kings 5:17). Naaman identified the deity with the place where he was worshiped and transferred the deity had to transfer the place (at least a portion of it) where he was worshiped. He did that because now he wants to be faithful to Yahweh.
The role played by the servant girl in bringing Naaman to faith in God is a symbol of how the Christian Community must help the weak in faith to come to believe in the person of Jesus himself in spite of the difficulties they go through. If a servant girl can lead her master to Jesus, what about us who by virtue of our baptism have become brothers and sisters in Christ? Remember that Jesus tells us that he no longer calls us servants but friends. Indeed, we have a greater responsibility because to whom much is given much is expected.
Having first despised the simple action of washing seven times in the river Jordan, he was convinced by his servants to try it, since he had nothing to lose. He was rewarded with health, his skin becoming soft and clean like a child. Full of joy and boundless gratitude, Naaman sought to bestow upon Elisha, God’s prophet, the treasures that he had brought with him. Elisha refuses payment. Naaman then responds with a resolution worthy of his gratitude – to worship and offer sacrifice only to the true God who saved him.
In the Gospel reading, Jesus teaches us the lesson of showing gratitude to God. Every child of God should cultivate the grace of gratitude. It not only opens the heart to further blessings but glorifies and pleases the Father. An unthankful heart is a fertile soil for all kinds of sins.
The story of the ten lepers leaves much to be desired. Before we begin to condemn the nine lepers who did not come back to thank Jesus, what is our own “Gratitude Quotient?” How often do we take our blessings for granted and fail to thank the Lord? “Oh that man would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men” (Psalm 107:8, 15, 21, 31). Too often we are content to enjoy the gift but we forget the giver. We are quick to pray but slow to praise.
Like Naaman in the First Reading, who received a gift from God (the Gift of faith) because he showed gratitude, the Samaritan Leper who returned to show gratitude to Jesus received something greater than Physical healing: he was also saved from his sins. Jesus said, “Your faith has saved you”, the same words He spoke to the repentant woman who anointed His feet (Luke 7:50). The nine lepers were declared clean by the priest, but he was declared saved by the Son of God! While it is wonderful to experience the miracle of Physical healing, it is even more wonderful to experience the miracle of eternal salvation.
St Paul in the Second Reading gives a message of hope to all Christians who are suffering or undergoing persecution for the sake of their faith. For Paul, the best way to magnify Christ is through the ministry of the Word. Paul was bound, but God’s Word cannot be bound. No one can take our will captive; in the same way no one can imprison our desire to serve God.
Paul’s admonition to Timothy is full of paradoxes namely death leads to life; suffering leads to reigning in glory. Indeed, we have nothing to fear because even our doubt and unbelief cannot change Jesus. He remains faithful forever because He cannot deny himself. Let us not put faith in ourselves, possession, our feelings and the like because they will change and fail. Let us put our faith in Jesus the great missionary. J. Hudson Taylor, often said, “It is not by trying to be faithful , but in looking to the faithful one that we win the victory.”
Naaman and the Samaritan leper are strangers to God, whose gratitude for their cure comes largely from the fact that they have discovered God as a novelty. When we stumble upon a marvelous reality hitherto unknown to us, wonder and enthusiasm well up within us. However, when something or someone becomes familiar to us, we downplay the benefits that come to us.
Unfortunately, this also happens with God. Our life is filled with a multitude of unmerited blessings – health, food, family and friends, our faith, even our very lives. God’s providence and goodness in the form of these ever present gifts leads to familiarity and expectation – “I have earned them,” “I deserve them.” It seems natural to us that God responds to our prayers. So we forget to say a sincere “Thank you” or to offer the homage of our hearts in worship, praise and adoration. The result is that we take God for granted. In fact, we take so much and so many people for granted, because a favor done by a spouse or a parent or a friend has become “normal” for us.
The secret to perceiving the Giver and his gift anew is to awaken our sense of wonder, to reflect upon what God has done and is doing in our lives. Mary reflected upon God’s actions in her heart and her soul and therefore she exalted the Lord. St. Paul felt the same way about his conversion years after it happened, when speaking about it during his trial, as he did when it first happened. He, like Mary, perceived the wonders of the Lord and thanked him from the depths of his heart.
But St. Paul also teaches us that gratitude to God is more than just a sentiment. It is an attitude that leads us to action. Gratitude implies that we value what we have received, especially the most priceless of gifts: our life of grace and friendship with God, the gifts of faith, hope and love, the sacraments and our salvation. Gratitude means that we love and use them, that we guard and conserve them in all their purity and health.
Developing gratitude goes hand in hand with the virtue of humility because it requires that we recognize our neediness and unworthiness. But gratitude should also deepen our love for God. God does not show us contempt or disdain by offering us trinkets and tokens like some great prince that tosses coins as he passes the peasants on the street. God gives us this multitude of gifts as means to find him, to raise us up again, to restore in us our fallen image, to give us our inheritance as sons and daughters. He is not simply looking for a fury of “Thank you´s.” What he desires is our happiness; what he hungers for is our love. We show gratitude not out of fear or calculation, but out of love, because we have discovered Him who has loved us first.
Gratitude to God based on love becomes a motive for us to please him, to desire to become more like him who loves us. Christ called his disciples to “be holy as your heavenly father is holy,” to “love one another as I have loved you.” The saints perceived the pricelessness of God’s gifts, they were filled with gratitude and love and thus they strove to imitate Christ.
Finally, St. Paul shows us that a deep and profound gratitude for the gifts of God should lead us to share our faith and knowledge of God with those who don´t know him or have not experienced his love. Do I value the cost of a single soul that was worth the price of Christ’s blood, poured out as he was scourged and crucified? An apostolic heart is the natural flowering of the virtue of gratitude.
In sum, Gratitude is a habit and like building up our muscles, it requires us to “workout” a little each day, since we all tend to be a little “flabby.” Let us commit ourselves this week to practicing this “rarest of virtues,” asking the Lord to give us opportunities to practice it in all its dimensions and through it, grow in our love for God and those around us.