28TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME CYCLE C

LUKE 17:11-19
WHEN I WAS GROWING UP I ATTENDED ST. HELENA GRADE SCHOOL IN HELENA MONTANA – NO LONGER IN EXISTENCE. I WAS TAUGHT BY THE SISTERS OF CHARITY OF LEAVENWORTH, KANSAS, AND FOR MOST OF MY GROWING UP I DID NOT KNOW ABOUT ANY OTHER RELIGIOUS SISTERS. I REMEMBER ONCE IN RELIGION CLASS WE HAD GONE THROUGH THE FOUR TYPES OF PRAYER – ADORATION, THANKSGIVING, PETITION, AND PENANCE – YOU MAY REMEMBER THOSE – WHEN, AS AN EXERCISE, SISTER MARY LORENTIA TOLD US TO GO THROUGH THE PRAYERS OF THE MASS AND IDENTIFY WHICH ONES BELONGED TO WHICH CATEGORY. AND WHAT I FOUND IS STILL TRUE TODAY. THE ONLY PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING IS THE PREFACE, THE PRAYER JUST BEFORE THE EUCHARISTIC PRAYER.
EVEN IN THE MASS, THANKSGIVING MAKES UP ONLY A SMALL PART OF OUR DIALOG WITH GOD. THE WORD “EUCHARIST” COMES FROM THE GREEK WORD MEANING THANKSGIVING, AND YET WE ARE MOSTLY ASKING FOR THINGS, REPENTING OF OUR SINS, OR PRAISING GOD.
TODAY WE HEAR THE STORY OF THE TEN LEPERS. ONLY THE SAMARITAN RETURNS TO THANK JESUS FOR GETTING HIS LIFE BACK. I CAN SYMPATHIZE. I TAKE CARE OF CANCER PATIENTS, AND WHILE MY ULTIMATE SUCCESS RATE IS NOT AS HIGH AS I'D LIKE, THERE ARE PATIENTS WHO WOULD NOT BE ALIVE IF IT WEREN'T FOR MY ATTENTIONS, AT LEAST IN PART. AND YET, BEING THANKED IS A RELATIVELY RARE THING FOR ME AS A PHYSICIAN, JUST AS IT SEEMED TO BE FOR JESUS WHEN HE WAS HEALING. WHAT GOES THROUGH THE MINDS OF PEOPLE WHO RECEIVE A GREAT GIFT AND DO NOT THANK THE GIVER? WHAT WERE THOSE OTHER NINE LEPERS THINKING? MAYBE ONE WANTED TO MAKE SURE THE CURE WOULD LAST. MAYBE ONE PLANNED TO GO BACK LATER AND THANK JESUS, BUT HAD MORE IMPORTANT THINGS TO DO – AFTER ALL HE HADN'T SEEN HIS FAMILY IN SEVERAL YEARS. MAYBE ANOTHER THOUGHT THAT HIS LEPROSY HAD BEEN GETTING BETTER BY ITSELF. SOMETIMES WHEN SOMEONE RECEIVES A GREAT GIFT, LIKE A HEALING, THEY RESENT THE HEALER; IT HAPPENS, AND I DON'T KNOW WHY. BUT I IMAGINE THAT IF YOU WERE TO ASK ANY OF THEM, THEY WOULD HAVE SAID THEY WERE GRATEFUL – IT JUST DIDN'T OCCUR TO THEM TO PHYSICALLY THANK JESUS.
GIVING THANKS, EITHER TO OTHER PEOPLE OR TO GOD HIMSELF, IS THE ONLY THING THAT WE CAN GIVE THAT DIDN'T COME TO US FIRST. EVEN GOD CAN NOT MAKE US THANK HIM, BECAUSE THANKSGIVING WELLS UP FROM THE FREEDOM WHICH IS AT THE CENTER OF OUR NATURE AS HUMAN BEINGS.
SOMEONE ONCE STUDIED MEN IN PRISON AND DISCOVERED THAT THOSE WHO SAID “THANK YOU” WHEN SOMETHING WAS DONE FOR THEM HAD A MUCH HIGHER CHANCE OF GOING STRAIGHT ONCE THEY GOT OUT. THE ONES WHO DID NOT OR COULD NOT OFFER THANKS ENDED UP BACK IN JAIL. MAYBE ONLY PEOPLE WHO ARE TRULY FREE IN THEIR HEARTS CAN REALLY GIVE THANKS.
WHAT DID THE SAMARITAN GET FROM THANKING JESUS? HE ALREADY HAD HIS HEALING, AS HAD THE OTHER NINE. I'M SURE HE WASN'T ACTUALLY LOOKING FOR SOMETHING. WHEN WE THANK SOMEONE SINCERELY, WE AREN'T CONSCIOUSLY TRYING TO GET SOMETHING MORE. BUT WHEN WE SAY THANKS, WE ARE ACKNOWLEDGING AND DEEPENING A RELATIONSHIP WHICH BEGAN WHEN THE OTHER PERSON GAVE SOMETHING TO US. TO FREELY GIVE A GIFT TO SOMEONE DOES NOT REALLY PUT THAT PERSON IN THE DEBT OF THE GIVER – IT MAY FEEL LIKE THAT, BUT REMEMBER, IT IS A GIFT, NOT A LOAN. A FREELY GIVEN GIFT IS ALWAYS AN ACT OF LOVE. AND WHEN WE THANK SOMEONE WHO HAS GIVEN US A GIFT, WE ARE ACCEPTING THEIR LOVE AS WELL AS THEIR GIFT. AND TO ACCEPT LOVE DOES MAKE US VULNERABLE, BECAUSE IT BINDS US TO THE ONE WHO LOVES US.
I FIND IT HARD TO SAY THANKS – NOT HARD, I GUESS, BUT I DON'T REMEMBER TO THANK PEOPLE FOR THE LITTLE THINGS. I SHOULD THANK MY WIFE A LOT MORE OFTEN FOR EVERYTHING SHE DOES FOR ME. I SHOULD THANK MY CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN JUST FOR BEING THE GOOD PEOPLE THEY ARE. I SHOULD THANK FATHER REILLY FOR HIS SUPPORT AND PATIENCE AND HIS DEVOTION TO THE PEOPLE OF THIS PARISH. I CAN THINK OF MANY PEOPLE I SHOULD THANK, AND DON'T. AND IF YOU ARE HUMAN, YOU CAN AS WELL.
WHEN YOU EXCHANGE THE SIGN OF PEACE TODAY, OFFER YOUR THANKS. I'M SURE YOU CAN THINK OF SOME REASON TO THANK THOSE PERSONS. IF YOU CAN'T THINK OF ANY OTHER REASONS, THANK HIM OR HER FOR BEING AT MASS, FOR BEING A MEMBER OF SAINT MARY'S.
AND WHEN YOU RECEIVE THE EUCHARIST, REMEMBER THAT THERE IS ONLY ONE PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING IN THE MASS, AND YOU'VE ALREADY SAID IT. AND NOW YOU HAVE RECEIVED THE GREATEST GIFT THAT GOD COULD GIVE YOU, HIS SON, IN THE FORM OF BREAD AND WINE, AND MAYBE THE REASON FOR THERE ONLY BEING ONE PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING IN THE MASS IS BECAUSE GOD HOPES THAT YOU WILL CHOOSE TO THANK HIM FROM THE FREEDOM HE GAVE YOU, AND WILL LINGER A FEW MOMENTS AFTER MASS TO OFFER YOUR GRATITUDE. WHERE ARE THE NINE? WERE THEY NOT HEALED AS WELL? MAY YOU AND I NO LONGER BE AMONG THOSE NINE, BECAUSE TRUE WORSHIP IS ONE LEPER RETURNING TO THANK JESUS.