Thanksgiving Day
(Sirach 50:22-24; I Corinthians 1:3-9; Luke 17:11-19)
A preacher tells of a brother in the Lord who urges him
to be “more eucharistic.” Did his friend mean that he should attend mass more
often? No, the preacher says, “he was
simply urging me to be more thankful.” The
Greek root for our word eucharist
means thanksgiving. The leper in today’s gospel then in coming
back to Jesus is truly acting eucharisticly.
The leper gives glory to God for a cure which Jesus
performed. He is not thereby recognizing
Jesus as the incarnate Son of God. But
he is testifying to another theological insight: God works through secondary
causes. Jesus as human has power to cure
people physically as well as spiritually. This ability comes from God. Today it rests with physicians who perform virtual
miracles in saving the lives of very sick patients.
We too should become more eucharistic. It is a way of life, of course, not a
seasonal custom. We become eucharistic first
by avoiding resentment with the disappointments we experience. Then we develop the nightly habit of naming a
blessing of that day for which we give God thanks.
