Gratefulness

Listening to the Spirit

Father,
I abandon myself into your hands;
do with me what you will.
Whatever you may do, I thank you:
I am ready for all, I accept all.

Let only your will be done in me,
and in all your creatures -
I wish no more than this, O Lord.

Into your hands I commend my soul:
I offer it to you with all the love of my heart,
for I love you, Lord, and so need to give myself,
to surrender myself into your hands without reserve,
and with boundless confidence,
for you are my Father.

Prayer of Abandonment (Charles de Foucauld)

Listening to the Word

Luke 17: 11-19

On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. Then 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. Now he was a Samaritan. Then said Jesus, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”

Reflection

Ten lepers meet Jesus. At least one of them is a Samaritan. Historically, the nation of Samaria is the product of the mingling of different peoples. Its religion is also not pure: the Jews were considering the Samaritans close to the pagans. Moreover, these people are sick: lepers! Leprosy is a debilitating disease. According to the bible, lepers cannot be approached because mistakenly, their disease was considered very contagious. Because of this, when someone gets close to them, they must shout, "I'm a leper! I'm a leper!” Moreover, the Jews believed these people became lepers because of their sins. So, Samaritan and leprosy. What a combination!

They sought Jesus for help. Jesus said, "Go and show yourself to the priests." At that time, the priest was the one in charge of issuing the healing certification for the lepers, like a medical officer today. But the Gospel does not say that they were healed yet. It seems that the healing happened during their journey, meaning to say that healing happens when we act according to our faith.

Then they were cleansed. But only one returned to praise God. Jesus said: "Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" (Luk 17:17-18 NRS) Only one and foreigner, a Samaritan, returned to express his gratitude, while the others forgot who the source of their recovery was. All were cured, but only one was saved by his faith, he who was not a “pure believer.”

We are all like lepers. We are all sick and separated from God as from one another. Furthermore, we are all like the nine lepers who forgot to thank Jesus for healing them. God gives us life, our family, relationships, food, health, joy, intelligence, talents, and faith... Then, he gives us all forgiveness for our sins. It is our everyday experience to enjoy so many graces, but rarely do we remember to say a word of gratitude to the Source of all of this. We forget our Creator and Father and then, we forget that we are His children!

We can make an exercise to amend this attitude of us. While praying, in silence, we can give room to recall to our mind all the graces we receive from our Heavenly Father every day. We will become more aware of God’s immense love for us and, at the end of our prayer, probably we will express spontaneously some words of gratitude to Him for this love.

October is the month of mission. The world needs witnesses of the love of God for humanity. Let us remember how much we are loved and then invite other people to share in the same experience of being children of such a great Father.