Don’t ever forget to say always “Thank You Lord”

Father Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara CSsR

Homily for the 28^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Holy Names Church

Memphis, Tennessee

Madam Lora, even in her nineties was still taking a taxi to Mass every Sunday morning. She resorted to taking taxi because she was no longer able to drive to church unassisted. Very often she was lucky to get the same taxi driver that had driven her to church many times. One Sunday morning, the driver taxi who had driven her to church at many other Sundays said to her, “Why do you bother yourself going to church every Sunday at your age? Madam Lora replied, “Just to give thanks,” “Just to say “Thank you Lord.” Touching the driver at the back, she said again “I think you should join me to give thanks and praise to God almighty.”

Madam Lora had a good grasp of what we do when we come to Mass. When we come to Mass, we have come essentially to say “Thank You Lord.” In fact, that’s what the word “Eucharist” means. The meaning of the Mass is summed up in the dialogue of the Preface when we say “It is right to give Him (the Lord) thanks and praise.”

Today’s gospel begins with “When Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem…” The Lord was obviously on the border between Galilee and Samaria and was then met by a group of ten lepers. I want us to remember that Jews had no dealings with the Samaritan people. But in this group of lepers, there was at least one Samaritan with others who were Jews. Here is an example of a great law of life. A common misfortune had broken down the racial and national barriers, and had brought them together. Humans can discriminate against each other, but not life’s misfortunes. Diseases, poverty, and loneliness do not discriminate. These lepers had a common problem- leprosy. The tragedy of life had helped them forget they were Jews and Samaritans; it has rather made them aware that they were all humans in need of help.

As for us, we don’t have leprosy. We are not lepers. But we have a common problem, which is our susceptibility or proneness to sin. We are all prone to sin. Sinfulness is our common problem. This common problem ought to break down all racial and national barriers, and make us aware that we are all humans in need of God’s help. Our common origin and problem should draw us together in one love for each other and in one love for God. Unfortunately, in some time of need, some of us flee from God. Our need for each other and our common need of God ought to draw us together

These ten people with leprosy were under a sentence of death; there was no cure for their diseases; they were isolated from their families, friends and from the human society. In fact, they were considered worthless, and no one dared to come near them. No one would touch them, or handle anything they had touched. The rules laid down in Old Testament is clear about this: “The leprous person shall wear torn clothes, and let the hair of his head hang loose, he must cover the lower part of his face, and cry out, “Unclean! Unclean!” You must also live outside the camp, away from others” ((Leviticus 13: 45-46)

Mindful of this rule, the lepers called Jesus from a distance, “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!” These lepers were dead men walking. They were dead physically and socially, but not spiritually. When they saw Jesus, they saw God; they saw the Master. When they saw Jesus, they saw the Man to heal them and restore them to their community. That’s why they called and shouted “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!” Now the name Jesus in Greek is Iesous; and in Hebrew, it is Yeshua which means “God is (my) help” or “The Lord is salvation.” Their greatest desire was healing and restoration, to return back home to a normal life. That’s all that they were asking for, just a chance to be like other people.

Sickness like leprosy was regarded as a punishment from God during the time of Jesus. So the sickness of these ten lepers was a sign that they were “guilty” of great sin. They were therefore shunned and avoided. When people looked at them, they saw sinful men. But when Jesus saw them, he saw something else; he saw their pain, not only physical pain but also the pain of being isolated and separated from their families, friends, neighbor and their familiar environment. Jesus saw the pain of being shunned and avoided by everybody. He saw their loneliness. Everyone else saw them as living corpses, but Jesus saw them as God’s living children. The Lord saw their need and healed them, “Go show yourself to the priests.”

On their way home, they were cleansed and healed. Nine of them went on their ways, only one returned to give thanks to Jesus, “One of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him.”

You know what? We often praise the disobedient ex-leper who came back to thank Jesus and criticize the nine for not coming back to thank Jesus, but they only obeyed the command of Jesus who said to them “Go show yourselves to the priests.” One reasonable reason why we often criticized them is that they were all readily ready, all too ready to accept what the priests would offer them: their old lives. That’s why they were sent to the priests. The priests would certify the cure, and then they could return home and have their old lives back.

Confronted by misfortune, we usually yearn to have our old lives back. When we are confronted by tragic events, by sudden reversal of fortune, by the death of a beloved one, by the loss of jobs or homes, by sickness or advancing years, we want our life back. This one Samaritan, healed from leprosy perceived that with Jesus, something more, something better, something new is being offered to him, which is more important and far greater than simply having his old life back. The healed man realized that his old life is not sufficient for the life of discipleship. That’s why we praise him for coming back. He came back to thank Jesus and to also accept him as his Lord and Savior. The gospel says on coming to Jesus, “…he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him.” The prostration is a symbolic act of surrender to Jesus.

This gospel story shows clearly humans’ ingratitude. The lepers desperately called Jesus for help; he cured them; a large number of them never came back to give thanks. So often, once a person has got what she wants, she never comes back. Some of us are ungrateful to our parents; we easily forget the time we depended entirely on them, a week’s neglect would have killed us. Of all the living creatures, human beings require the longest time to become self-sufficient. For years, we were totally dependent on our parents literally for everything. Yet, the day comes when we regard our aged parents as talkative, nuisance, and burdens and we are ready to dump and abandon them in senior citizens’ homes even when we can afford to cater for them in our own homes. We are reluctant to repay our parents for taking care of us.

We are ungrateful to our fellow humans too. There were times when we thought we will never forget the good done to us by others. But only few end up satisfying the debt of gratitude they owe. When teachers teach well, when your doctor takes care of you excellently, when a friend is of a great help to you, what do you say? Thank you? Or I appreciate this?

What about our God? In times we need, we desperately pray with intensity asking for God’s help. And as time passes, we also pass God by and we forget God. God has given us so much; He gave us his Son Jesus Christ, and often we never give to him even a word of thanks. The best thanks we can give to God is to deserve his goodness and mercy a little better. As the Psalmist says, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.” The best thanks we can give to God is the gift of our lives. God wants us to offer our lives to him as a sign of our thanksgiving for all he has done for us.

Thanksgiving is not an added extra. It is absolutely central to the life of a Christian. Like Madam Lora said, it is saying “Thank you, thank you, thank you and thank you Lord.” Showing that gratitude sincerely and always helps us persevere in our relationship with God. If we are thankful, and God is essentially part of our lives, it becomes difficult to walk away from him.