Several people asked me for a copy of this weekend's homily. Here you are. Enjoy - and "thank you" for all you do.
10 October 2010 – 28th OT C
If I told you that I’ve got a secret that will change the entire outlook of your life – would you want to know it?
If I told you that this secret is a really easy thing to do – would you believe it?
Well, I DO have that secret – and it IS really easy – and that secret is contained in today’s readings. The secret is… be thankful. If you are, your entire outlook on life will be different.
In today’s readings we hear about people being cleansed of leprosy. We know what leprosy is – but we may not know much about it. Let’s remember what that disease really was:
Did God HAVE to cure them? No. Did God WANT to cure them? YES! That’s the different in attitude between the 9 lepers who failed to come back and the one who did. The 9 thought, perhaps, that this cure was owed them – so they receive the gift and go away – ungrateful for what they’ve received.
The one, on the other hand, sees his healing for what it is – a gratuitous gift from God – and as a result, HE becomes a man of thanks as he comes back to Christ to say, “thank you.”
Which are we?
Well, maybe some example will help us answer that question:
Why do we come to Mass? Because we have to – for some, that’s the right answer…
We come to Mass because it is absolutely necessary for us to learn to be thankful people. THIS is why coming to church EVERY Sunday is one of the 10 commandments – and why purposefully missing Mass on a Sunday is still mortal sin. Because God wants to teach us how to be grateful and thankful people.
Why does God value gratitude so much? Is he vain? Is his self-esteem so weak that he gets depressed if we don't praise and thank him?
No. He values gratitude because gratitude is valuable - it's valuable for us, for the health of our souls.
God wants us to develop the virtue of gratitude because he wants us to experience the joy that comes from knowing we are loved by him without limits or conditions.
But, like every virtue, gratitude can only grow if we exercise it.
How can we exercise gratitude? There is nothing easier. All we have to do is say thank you - and mean it. I’ll never forget the lesson of my pastor in Hanover: countless times I heard him say to someone, “thank you.” It was constant and sincere – always offering thanks to people for the things they did in the parish – whether large or small. Problem with me is, I often take too long to say thank you: But it is never too late to offer thanks.
Gratitude is a virtue who we have to learn to practice… but we all know how a small “thank you” goes a long way:
A few years ago at our annual priest workshop I was out to dinner with some priests – and one of them, who had taken some time away on a leave-of-absence recalled an important moment in his life: he had just returned to the priesthood from his leave and found that many of the guys weren’t talking to him – they were somehow “shunning” him for having taken some time off to get his head on straight. He recalled seeing me for the first time at a priest funeral. He began to cry as he recounted how, when I saw him, I simply went over and hugged him. “I’ll never forget that – it meant so much to me” he said – wiping tears from his eyes. “Thank you, John, for welcoming me back.” It was a thank you for something I didn’t even realize I had done.
This is why we come to Mass – to be THANKFUL people. Every time we hear the Scriptures proclaimed – we remember all that God did (and does) for us – how he called us to be His own special people – how He offers us healing and cleansing when we but come to Him with faith (like the lepers in the Gospel today)…
Then, greatest of all gratuitous gifts, He gives us Himself in the Holy Eucharist – the very word means, “thanksgiving.” We come to thank God who does and has done so much for us – and in return, he heals and nourishes us! Just as the bread and wine are changed into His Body and Blood, WE are changed to become thankful and responsive people.
It is such an important virtue, that God put thankfulness it at the very center of Christian worship: the celebration of the Eucharist.
This is why we don't just stay home and say some prayers, or to go to the mountains and enjoy the view.
Those are good things to do. But what happens here, in this community and on this altar, goes much, much deeper – and can never be replaced by our private prayers or journeys to the mountain or sea.
Gratitude is an affectionate and the only appropriate response to a favor. So he himself provided a way for us to offer him a perfect thanksgiving, an infinite act of gratitude: through the Eucharist.
The Eucharist is Christ himself, truly present, body, blood, soul and divinity, under the appearances of bread and wine. And since Christ is present in this sacrament, so are all of Christ's actions and prayers, most especially, his self-sacrifice on the cross. By uniting our minds and hearts - and even our bodies, through Holy Communion - to Christ's own self-offering in the Eucharist, our human prayer of thanksgiving becomes divine.
And so, we are able to say thank you to God as we ought to, as we want to, and as God truly deserves.
That's what we have come together to do today. And we can only do it here, at Mass. Today, lets learn the secret to changing our outlook on life – starting today, let's be like the grateful Samaritan: let's look at things from a different perspective – and rather than complain, let’s start to say “thank you.”
If I told you that this secret is a really easy thing to do – would you believe it?
Well, I DO have that secret – and it IS really easy – and that secret is contained in today’s readings. The secret is… be thankful. If you are, your entire outlook on life will be different.
In today’s readings we hear about people being cleansed of leprosy. We know what leprosy is – but we may not know much about it. Let’s remember what that disease really was:
- Leprosy is a bacterial infection that causes the extremities of the body - fingers and toes, hands and feet, nose, ears, and mouth - to die and slowly rot away, even while the person remains alive.
- In those days it was so contagious that even the lepers' closest relatives did not dare to come near them.
- Lepers were required to live in isolated colonies.
- If they had to travel, the law required them to ring a bell wherever they went, shouting out, "Unclean! Unclean!" This explains why these ten lepers addressed Christ "from a distance", as St Luke points out.
- On top of the isolation, lepers had to live with the almost unbearable pain and stench of their own decaying bodies.
- Leprosy was a long, humiliating, and dismal agony, the most horrible of ancient diseases.
Did God HAVE to cure them? No. Did God WANT to cure them? YES! That’s the different in attitude between the 9 lepers who failed to come back and the one who did. The 9 thought, perhaps, that this cure was owed them – so they receive the gift and go away – ungrateful for what they’ve received.
The one, on the other hand, sees his healing for what it is – a gratuitous gift from God – and as a result, HE becomes a man of thanks as he comes back to Christ to say, “thank you.”
Which are we?
Well, maybe some example will help us answer that question:
- A week or so ago, I was waiting in the check-out line at Martin’s. I couldn’t help but hear the lady behind me complaining about the road construction going on 16. Has it been annoying? YES! All summer it’s seemed that you can’t get in or out of Waynesboro without hitting serious road construction. Anyway, this person behind me in line went on and on about how terrible this construction was, what a bad job they had done scraping, complaining about the way you had to go around all the man-hold covers and sewer grates… She just went on about it, like it was the worst thing in the world. Annoying? Yes! But, stop for one second! The road work means that, soon, we’ll have really nice, smooth roads to drive on – no more avoiding the potholes. It’ll be so nice – soon. Instead of taking a step back and looking at what lies ahead, we just like to complain about the current situation. But maybe we’d rather complain than be grateful for the upgrade…
- Over the years as a priest, I have, unfortunately, dealt with the death of a child several times.
- I remember one family – mom was just filled with anger and grief – how could God do this?! It was very much, “God’s fault” in her mind. To this day, she has not been able to overcome her anger at God for “taking” her son from her.
- Then I remember another family – a completely different response. They, too, were devastated. But there was a real difference. Instead of being furious with God, they were thankful that God had given their son to them for 14 years – certainly they wished it could have been longer – but they saw the blessings that their son had been to them – and they were able to thank God for having given him to them for those few years. Yes, they still grieved their loss, but with hearts thankful to God.
- Another thing I deal with often as a priest is illness. Again, it seems we could have two different attitudes when dealing with illness – either our own or a loved one’s:
- Why me? Why does God hate me so? What did I do to deserve this? That’s one reaction.
- The other, an awareness of the cross – gratitude for the love and care and concern of family and others. Sometimes even a thankfulness that God had chosen them to carry this cross.
Why do we come to Mass? Because we have to – for some, that’s the right answer…
We come to Mass because it is absolutely necessary for us to learn to be thankful people. THIS is why coming to church EVERY Sunday is one of the 10 commandments – and why purposefully missing Mass on a Sunday is still mortal sin. Because God wants to teach us how to be grateful and thankful people.
Why does God value gratitude so much? Is he vain? Is his self-esteem so weak that he gets depressed if we don't praise and thank him?
No. He values gratitude because gratitude is valuable - it's valuable for us, for the health of our souls.
- In the first place, gratitude keeps us grounded in the truth, which is key for our ongoing relationship with God.
- To be ungrateful to God is not only unjust, but it's also living an illusion.
- The simple fact is that everything we have is a gift from God: creation, life, talents, opportunities, hope in heaven, the grace that helps us persevere in doing what is right - these are all God's gifts.
- God is totally gracious in giving us so much – even difficulties. He offers us all salvation! Question is, what is our response?
- In the second place, gratitude is the perfect antidote to sin. Sin turns us in on our selves, like an ingrown toenail; gratitude opens us up to God and neighbor.
- It directly contradicts self-centeredness, self-indulgence, and self-absorption.
- It builds bridges, unites communities, and softens hearts.
- It counteracts depression and releases anxiety.
God wants us to develop the virtue of gratitude because he wants us to experience the joy that comes from knowing we are loved by him without limits or conditions.
But, like every virtue, gratitude can only grow if we exercise it.
How can we exercise gratitude? There is nothing easier. All we have to do is say thank you - and mean it. I’ll never forget the lesson of my pastor in Hanover: countless times I heard him say to someone, “thank you.” It was constant and sincere – always offering thanks to people for the things they did in the parish – whether large or small. Problem with me is, I often take too long to say thank you: But it is never too late to offer thanks.
Gratitude is a virtue who we have to learn to practice… but we all know how a small “thank you” goes a long way:
- We have all received a note of thanks at some time in our life, long after we had performed the favor.
- When that thank you note arrives, it warms our heart, because it shows that our action lasted, that someone was thinking of us long after the favor was done.
A few years ago at our annual priest workshop I was out to dinner with some priests – and one of them, who had taken some time away on a leave-of-absence recalled an important moment in his life: he had just returned to the priesthood from his leave and found that many of the guys weren’t talking to him – they were somehow “shunning” him for having taken some time off to get his head on straight. He recalled seeing me for the first time at a priest funeral. He began to cry as he recounted how, when I saw him, I simply went over and hugged him. “I’ll never forget that – it meant so much to me” he said – wiping tears from his eyes. “Thank you, John, for welcoming me back.” It was a thank you for something I didn’t even realize I had done.
This is why we come to Mass – to be THANKFUL people. Every time we hear the Scriptures proclaimed – we remember all that God did (and does) for us – how he called us to be His own special people – how He offers us healing and cleansing when we but come to Him with faith (like the lepers in the Gospel today)…
Then, greatest of all gratuitous gifts, He gives us Himself in the Holy Eucharist – the very word means, “thanksgiving.” We come to thank God who does and has done so much for us – and in return, he heals and nourishes us! Just as the bread and wine are changed into His Body and Blood, WE are changed to become thankful and responsive people.
It is such an important virtue, that God put thankfulness it at the very center of Christian worship: the celebration of the Eucharist.
This is why we don't just stay home and say some prayers, or to go to the mountains and enjoy the view.
Those are good things to do. But what happens here, in this community and on this altar, goes much, much deeper – and can never be replaced by our private prayers or journeys to the mountain or sea.
Gratitude is an affectionate and the only appropriate response to a favor. So he himself provided a way for us to offer him a perfect thanksgiving, an infinite act of gratitude: through the Eucharist.
The Eucharist is Christ himself, truly present, body, blood, soul and divinity, under the appearances of bread and wine. And since Christ is present in this sacrament, so are all of Christ's actions and prayers, most especially, his self-sacrifice on the cross. By uniting our minds and hearts - and even our bodies, through Holy Communion - to Christ's own self-offering in the Eucharist, our human prayer of thanksgiving becomes divine.
And so, we are able to say thank you to God as we ought to, as we want to, and as God truly deserves.
That's what we have come together to do today. And we can only do it here, at Mass. Today, lets learn the secret to changing our outlook on life – starting today, let's be like the grateful Samaritan: let's look at things from a different perspective – and rather than complain, let’s start to say “thank you.”
Father, you are so right! I was confronted with two situations in which a simple "thank you" was appropriate. The first-I forgot to say thank you for a very nice gesture from a friend a few weeks ago and she called me on it. And the second...I took a few minutes (after hearing this Homily) to write a thank-you note and send it in the mail. And it meant a whole lot to the recipients. Thank you for this awesome homily!
ReplyDeleteHello Father Bateman..I check your Blog from time to time as you are a most inspiring priest and missed by many at Sacred Heart. I have printed this homily so that I can return to reading it and remind myself to be thankful for each and every day, even the difficult ones. Keep posting your homilies!! My best to you.
ReplyDeleteMargie Zavacky, Lewistown, PA