Cycle C - Year I:  

13 October 2013: 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

(Liturgical color: Green)

Luke 17:11-19

Lord, teach us to be grateful.

Filipinos are appreciative and grateful people. We are quick to say "thank you" for a blessing or favor received. This feeling of gratitude is enshrined in the Filipino "soul" as "utang ng loob". It is difficult to define or translate "utang na loob".But Filipinos know what it means; it is like a deep bond that connects ourselves with whoever has done us good.

There is a Filipino saying, "Ang utang na loob ay hindi binabayaran, kundi tinatanaw." (Roughly translated: a good deed is never paid back, but only appreciated with gratitude.)

This Sunday's Gospel narrative presents to us a case of gratitude, and the lack of it, in the story about the ten lepers cured by Jesus.

In his journey to Jerusalem, through Samaria and Galilee, our Lord encounters 10 lepers who ask him to cure them of their leprosy. This illness is characterized by open and smelly sores and deformities in one's nose, fingers, and toes.

During biblical times, lepers were truly the outcasts of their society, By Moses Law, lepers had to live apart from the rest of the community (Numbers 5:2-3), and had to shout a warning to others when they were nearby (Leviticus 13:45-46).

As the Gospel story goes, our Lord Jesus heals or "cleanses" the ten lepers, but only one, who was a poor Samaritan, comes back to thank him. And the Samaritan who was cured of his leprosy gloried God with a loud cry as he realized the greatness of the gift he has been given and the goodness of the One who gave it.

In the light of such a great gift, it seems mystifying that only one of the ten lepers came back to say "thank you" to our Lord. The Gospel does not tell us why? But it should be enough that we realize there's something wrong with the lack of gratitude of the others. So Jesus said, "Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God? (Luke 17:17-18)

The Gospel message for us is that we can and should always give thanks for our many material blessings, like family, friends, homes, food on our table, a good job, and many more. We also need to be mindful and thankful for the many kindness we receive from others. Little things like thank-you note and phone calls or text are important. We must always acknowledge  when we have been blessed with precious gifts, at home or at work.

But we need to go a little deeper than just material blessings. In our faith we know that once we were dead in sin, but now we live in and the through our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the gift of our baptism, when we died and rose with Christ. Our gratitude is what makes us see with clarity with the eyes of faith.

Everyday God makes amazing miracles in our lives, some are spectacular perhaps, and some are so small they can be easily missed if we aren't paying attention. So let us pray that our eyes may be opened to God's great works in our daily life. So that we do not just simply go about our day but rather stop whatever we are doing to give our Lord Jesus all praise and glory for his gifts and blessings.

Participating in the Eucharistic sacrifice at Holy Mass is our way of "glorifying God in a loud voice" for His most wondrous gift of our life.  May the Lord be on our hearts and on our minds each moment of every day, as we pray: "Lord, teach us to be grateful, always."

A blessed Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.

Ad Jesum per Mariam!