The Benefits of Being Thankful

My homily for the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time.  Questions, comments, etc. are all welcome!

Location: Basilica of Saint Francis Xavier (Dyersville, IA) – 8:30 & 10:30 a.m. Sunday Masses
Date: Sunday October 13^th, 2013 (28^th Sunday in OT, Year C; Vocation Awareness Sunday)

READINGS:
1st Reading: 2 Kings 5:14-17
Resp. Psalm: Ps. 98:1, 2-3, 3-4
2^nd Reading: 2 Timothy 2:18-13
Gospel: Luke 17:11-19
FOCUS: There are many benefits to having an attitude of gratitude for God’s gifts.  
FUNCTION: Make prayer a daily habit; spend at least 5 minutes a day talking to God.  



My trip to Haiti this past February continues to resonate with me.  Having never been to a third world country before, it was truly an eye-opening experience – to see the local people walking to and from the stream just outside of the town to wash what few clothes they have and bathe; to see the humble conditions in which the local townspeople live; and to see them walk several miles just to get to Mass on Sunday – it was all pretty amazing.  And it made me think about a lot of things that I sometimes take for granted – the luxury of having clean and running water, the ability to take a shower in the privacy of my own bathroom, being able to go to the grocery store to buy food, having a car to help me get places, having a regular and reliable source of income, and having a decent place to sleep, just to name a few of the things that I sometimes take for granted. 

 

          Life is much different in Haiti; they don’t have all the luxuries that we have here in the US.  When you really stop and think about it, we’re living the high life; we’re living better than probably 90% of the world; we have much that we should be thankful for.  And yet we still complain; I’m as guilty of this as the rest of us.  Many of us take our modern luxuries for granted.  I did, and I know that I still do.  I still need greater spiritual conversion in my life.  I still need to work on being thankful for what I do have rather than focused on what I don’t.  Going to Haiti helped me realize I need to develop “an attitude of gratitude.”

 

          And I think that’s what the readings are all about this weekend – developing “an attitude of gratitude.”  How often do we ask God for things, and then forget to say “thank you”?  God must think we’re terribly ungrateful once in a while!  It’s a vice we’ve all been guilty of at one point or another.  We ask, we ask, we ask, and then we forget to say thank you.  I suppose it’s part of our fallen, human condition; we know how to be needy, but we don’t always know how to be thankful.

          In both the first and the second reading, people were cleansed of the awful, flesh-eating disease of leprosy. As a side note, one of the best-known people to have worked with lepers is Saint Damien of Molokai.  He was Born in Tremelo, Belgium, on January 3^rd, 1840, and joined the Sacred Hearts Fathers in 1860.  He was born Joseph and received the name Damien in religious life.  In 1864, he was sent to Honolulu, Hawaii, where he was ordained.  For the next nine years he worked in missions on the big island, Hawaii.  In 1873, he went to the leper colony on Molokai, after volunteering for the assignment.  Damien cared for lepers of all ages, but was particularly concerned about the children segregated in the colony.  He announced he was a leper in 1885 and continued to build hospitals, clinics, and churches, and some six hundred coffins.  He died on April 15^th, 1889, on Molokai.  He was declared venerable in 1977; Pope John Paul II pronounced him “blessed” on June 4^th, 1995; and Pope Benedict XVI canonized him on October 11^th, 2009.  His feast day is also October 11^th.

 

          To be cured of leprosy was no small feat; anyone identified as a leper was segregated from society, because it was possible to get the disease through close, personal contact.  Lepers were considered ritually unclean, and had to go around announcing themselves as such.  The fact that Jesus cleansed them enabled them to return to social life; it was a gift of matchless value.  He cleansed all ten of the lepers, and only one returned to give Him thanks.  And that one former leper was now doubly blessed – not only had he been cleansed of his leprosy, but by his act of thanksgiving, he was now closer to his eternal salvation because of his faith and his act of thanksgiving.

 

          Maybe we haven’t received a gift from God like being cleansed of leprosy, but we’ve still received much from His generous hands – we have the gift of our family; the gift of being able to see, hear, taste, touch, and smell; the gift of all these luxuries around us; and most importantly, the gift of life.  That doesn’t mean life will always be easy; but even when life’s hard, and we have to face things such as failing health or broken relationships, God is still good even if we realize we’re living in a broken world. 

 

          So we might make a little examination of conscience: have we thanked God today for the good things we have?  Have we recognized the many blessings we’ve received, or have we allowed ourselves to be consumed with jealousy and envy?  Now’s the time to be thankful for what we have; and if we are thankful, we might not think so much about what we don’t have.  I think being thankful helps us realize that there are a lot of things that we don’t actually need; being thankful helps us be satisfied with less; it helps us to live simply and be more mindful of the needs of others; and it puts us in right relationship with God, who cares for us and provides for our needs.

 

          One thing we all have to be thankful for is the gift of our personal vocation; God has placed a unique calling on each of our lives.  And since today is also Vocations Awareness Sunday, it would do us good to stop and think about our vocation in life, especially if we feel like we haven’t yet answered it.  Many of you here today are called to marriage – and many of you have embraced that vocation because you’re already married; but God may be calling others here in a different way – some of you here might be called to the priesthood; others might be called to religious life; still others here may be called to the diaconate; and some of you might be called to life as a chaste, single person.  Whatever your vocation, God has a plan for your life – a plan to bring you a sense of peace and fulfillment; a plan to make you happy in this life and help lead you to “the life of the world to come.”

 

          I think it all starts with prayer: ask the Lord to show you your vocation; and even if you’ve already responded to your vocation in life, spend at least 5 minutes a day talking to God in prayer – ask Him to lead you and guide you, and thank Him for the ways in which He’s blessed you.  And you just might find yourself happier, more content, and closer to the kingdom of God.