Thursday, November 28, 2024

Thanksgiving Day

(Sirach 50:22-24; I Corinthians 1:3-9; Luke 17:11-19)

Thanksgiving is America’s favorite holiday, hands down.  Forget about the Fourth of July.  Forget about even Christmas.  For Thanksgiving more Americans travel great distances to be with their family than  any other holiday.  Most everyone eats turkey.  Many watch football on television. Increasingly popular is a communal morning run.

One thing Americans are having trouble doing in recent years on Thanksgiving is giving thanks to God.  Skepticism has taken root in many places.  People are having have difficulty recognizing a Supreme Benefactor.  They become a little like Bart Simpson in his mealtime prayer, “Thank you for nothing.  We paid for all this food ourselves.”  Most foreigners do not have this problem.  At a Thanksgiving meal they will not only thank God but also name the gifts they are thankful for.  They are much like the Samaritan leper in today’s gospel.

This leper is a foreigner also.  Only the desperation of his disease allows him to share company with the Jewish lepers.  This condition, however, is not necessary to stand before Jesus.  Jesus welcomes everyone. It’s the Samaritan’s return to Jesus that truly distinguishes him from the others.  He wants to express gratitude to God before the instrument of God’s healing.  For this reason Jesus declares him saved.  The others may obey the law but are not yet given access to eternal life.  Americans may enjoy a lot of blessings.  But they likewise are not saved unless they give gratitude to God.

Thursday, November 25, 2021

 Thanksgiving Day

(Sirach 50:22-24; I Corinthians 1:3-9; Luke 17:11-19)

Thanksgiving is America’s favorite holiday, hands down.  Forget about the Fourth of July.  Forget about even Christmas.  On Thanksgiving Americans travel distances to be with their family.  Most everyone eats turkey.  Many watch football on television. Increasingly popular is a communal morning run.

One thing Americans are having trouble doing in recent years on Thanksgiving is giving thanks to God.  Skepticism has taken root in many places.  People are having have difficulty recognizing a Supreme Benefactor.  They become a little like Bart Simpson in his mealtime prayer, “Thank you for nothing.  We paid for all this food ourselves.”  Most foreigners do not have this problem.  At a Thanksgiving meal they will not only thank God but also name the gifts they are thankful for.  They are much like the Samaritan leper in today’s gospel.

This leper is a foreigner also.  Only the desperation of his disease allowed him to share company with the Jewish lepers.  This condition, however, is not necessary to stand before Jesus.  He welcomes everyone. It’s the Samaritan’s return to Jesus that truly distinguishes him from the others.  He wants to express gratitude to God before the instrument of God’s healing.  For this reason Jesus declares him saved.  The others may obey the law but are not given access to eternal life.  Americans may enjoy a lot of blessings.  But they likewise are not saved unless they give gratitude to God.

Wednesday, November 10, 2021

 Memorial of Saint Leo the Great, pope

(Wisdom 6:1-11; Luke 17:11-19)

Today’s gospel is traditionally read on Thanksgiving Day. The reason is obvious; it is about giving thanks.  Jesus has healed ten lepers, and one -- only one and he, a Samaritan -- returns to thank him.  Jesus extols him not only for giving thanks but also for doing so when his benefactor was of a different faith tradition.  Something similar is happening in America today.

The desire to give thanks is found throughout the world.  People everywhere have an almost innate need to thank others, if not God, for their welfare.  For this reason, Mexicans in border towns like to join family and friends on the American side for Thanksgiving dinner.  When doing so, they may take time to not only say grace before the meal but also spend time in common prayer afterwards.  Standing in a circle, each person will name aloud the benefits he or she has received with God’s help.

The Thanksgiving Day Mass also attracts a fair number of people.  Instinctively we know that the Eucharist is the best way to give thanks.  Latinos again excel here.  They seem more likely than European-American counterparts to participate in the Thanksgiving Mass. They believe that it actualizes Jesus’ death so that they might participate in it and have eternal life.  For this opportunity as well they want to thank him.

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Memorial of Saint Frances Cabrini, virgin

(Wisdom 6:1-11; Luke 17:11-19)

We should not be dismayed by the mindlessness of the nine in today’s gospel who do not return to give thanks.  Many of us act in the same way.  We are often blessed but quickly forget the Lord, the source of all goodness.  We may even attribute our blessing to luck or to some personal quality.  We should emulate the man who seeks to pay homage Jesus in gratitude.

St. Frances Xavier Cabrini returned to the Lord after receiving his blessing.  She was at one point so frail that the sisters who educated her refused her petition to join them.  Yet she persisted in serving the Lord.  Gathering a group of women around her, she fulfilled her childhood hope of becoming a missionary.  Mother Cabrini, as she was called, established sixty-seven orphanages, schools, and hospitals.  She worked largely as an Italian immigrant with other immigrants in the United States.  Yet her dynamism did not stop at U.S. shores.  She extended her reach to South America and back to Europe. 

Gratitude becomes a person.  It bespeaks humility that enables him or her to keep self-deceiving pride at bay.  Recognizing the connectedness of society, gratitude further impels one to assist others.  It is not surprising then to see the Lord blessing the grateful cured leper with salvation.

Thursday, November 22, 2018

Thanksgiving Day

(Sirach 50:22-24; I Corinthians 1:3-9; Luke 17:11-19)

Thanksgiving is a uniquely human response to another’s service.  Only humans can perceive a gratuitous act done on their behalf and acknowledge their indebtedness.  This is the essence of thanksgiving: a verbal recognition that another has graciously and freely rendered one help is some way.  Animals, particularly pets, may express subservience, but their responses are programmed to obtain favor.

Thanksgiving can be justly expected.  One’s service may not only be unrecompensed but really impossible to reciprocate.  It may not be a matter of scant resources but of the nature of the deed which no return offering can satisfy.  For this reason Jesus expresses disappointment that nine of the ten cured of leprosy do not acknowledge God’s goodness. 

We also need to give thanks.  Of course, our American tradition has singled out today – the fourth Thursday of November – as especially appropriate to express gratitude to God.  We call one another together not only for a meal but also for a communal prayer.  We thank God for all the blessings we have enjoyed as Americans – a land rich in resources, friendly neighbors, and the genius to make and follow laws promoting both individual initiative and assistance to the needy. Also as part of the American tradition we should thank one another, especially those whose help has been both indispensable and gratuitous.  We remember how the Pilgrims invited the Native Americans to their feast for helping them save their lives.  Finally, today in the Eucharist we thank God for His Son Jesus Christ.  He quite saves us from our follies and provides for us an eternal banquet of Thanksgiving.

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Wednesday, November 14, 2018

Wednesday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time

(Titus 1:1-9; Luke 17:11-19)

The readings today indicate two responses to God’s graciousness.  The Letter to Titus recommends that Christians respect everyone by being peaceful and considerate.  Since Baptism has healed them of crude and spiteful behavior, they should try to win over others to Christ.  The gospel’s recommendation for expressing gratitude is more direct.  The tenth leper, healed of disease, returns to Jesus with thankfulness on his lips. 

Jesus is the central figure in both passages.  He is God’s instrument in the first reading.  Sharing in Jesus’ cross through Baptism, the Christian dies to sin.  Experiencing rebirth in the same baptismal waters, she now lives for God and not for self.  In the gospel Jesus pronounces physical healing for each of the ten lepers.  Then he announces salvation for the one who comes back to give thanks.

We are fast approaching the great American holiday of Thanksgiving and the joyful Christian feast of Christmas.  Both occasions invoke great amounts of gratitude.  Americans thank God for their remarkable prosperity.  We Christians raise our voices to God in highest praise for sending Jesus, our Redeemer.

Thursday, November 26, 2015

Thanksgiving Day

(Sirach 50:22-24; 1 Corinthians 1:3-9; Luke 17:11-19)

A number of years ago a worker in a Central American country fulfilled his promise to the Virgin Mary.  He had asked her intercession for the success of his country’s soccer team in the World Cup playoffs.  The team had done well for a small country winning games against two European competitors.  Making a pilgrimage on foot to the national shrine of the Virgin was this man’s way of saying “thanks.”  We are given a holiday today to do the same.

And that is another reason to be thankful.  Employers, spurred by government mandate, are paying us without our having to do any work.  As if it were a Sunday, we have a large swath of time to give thanks.  We pray, rest, and enjoy the company of friends all in the spirit of thankfulness.  Every day holds many reasons to thank God.  The wise person does not retire without doing so.

The gospel indicates that God takes notice of our giving thanks and our not doing it.  It tells us that Jesus asks the one leper who thanked him why the other nine he cured didn’t.  More significantly, the passage emphasizes that Jesus rewards the one who does with salvation.  We can say that our recognition of God as our benefactor is crucial.  It will save us from the punishment due for our sins. 

Thursday, November 27, 2014

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.

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Thanksgiving Day

(Sirach 50:22-24; I Corinthians 1:3-9; Luke 17:11-19)

A number of years ago University of Texas quarterback gave a stellar performance in the Rose Bowl.  He scored a number of touchdowns and was chosen as the game’s most valuable player.  In a post-game interview, the young player did not brag of his accomplishment. Rather, he gave credit for his success to others.  He praised his teammates for their cooperation and thanked his family for their role in making him into the player he was.  In displaying such gratitude Vince Young emulates the Samaritan who returns to Jesus giving thanks.

The gospel passage is unique to Luke.  Jesus heals ten lepers and sends them off to the priest for inspection so that they may once again participate in society.  One of those healed, however, on noticing that he has indeed been cleansed of the dreaded disease returns to thank Jesus.  When he expresses gratitude for full health, Jesus bestows on him the richer blessing of salvation.

Today Americans and all living in the United States have the opportunity to thank God for the blessings bestowed on this great country.  When we do so from the heart – that is, not just by gathering to eat turkey or by even sitting in prayer around the table – but by a change of course as dramatic as the Samaritan’s who returns to Jesus, we also can count on his blessing of salvation.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Thanksgiving Day

(Sirach 50:22-24; I Corinthians 1:3-9; Luke 17:11-19)

After Thanksgiving dinner the family invited its dinner guests to stand in a circle. Each person was asked to announce her or his reasons for being grateful to God. Most said that they were thankful for their families. The children of one family expressed heart-felt gratitude for their baby sister who seemed to have been born unexpectedly but who brought new joy to the household. The gospel today expresses how important such exercises of giving thanks are.

In the passage Jesus bestows salvation on the one healed leper who remembers the source of his blessing. As important as good health is, it is not the end and goal of life. Salvation, our eternal welfare, is. Jesus indicates that salvation comes as a gift from God when we give Him thanks. It should be added that such thanksgiving needs to be more than a one time or even annual affair. No, the thanksgiving that results in salvation is a way of life that finds expression not just in worship of God but also in service to others.

Our Thanksgiving customs, like most things today, have become unfortunately secularized. The day is associated more with eating turkey and watching football than with offering thanks to the Lord. We do well to institute a custom of giving thanks like the family in the illustration above. It will encourage everyone to count his or her blessings. It should also provoke service to the poor so that they too will have manifold reasons for giving thanks.

Homilette for Thursday, November 26, 2009

Thanksgiving Day

(Sirach 50:22-24; Luke 17:11-19)

Why is Jesus annoyed that the other nine lepers do not return to give him thanks? Can he not appreciate how their first reactions after being so completely marginalized might be jubilation, not thanksgiving? Since he healed ten, does he feel personally offended that all do not recognize his power? Or is there another explanation more characteristic of Jesus?

The fourth preface for weekdays may provide a clue to answer these questions. The preface is the prayer of thanksgiving that the priest makes on behalf of the people at Mass just before the consecration of the bread and wine. One option of the many prefaces available uses these words: “Our prayer of thanksgiving adds nothing to your greatness but makes us grow in your grace.” In the gospel Jesus is not upset because he is slighted by the nine lepers who do not return. Rather he is sorry that they do not take advantage of the gift that God extends by our giving thanks. Jesus reveals God’s inestimable gift of salvation when he tells the grateful leper, “...your faith has saved you.” As terrible a curse as leprosy is, it cannot compare to eternal oblivion. In contrast, the tenth leper has found his way to never-ending communion with the Lord.

Today we pause to thank God’s for many gifts, but especially prosperity to our nation. Although salvation has a radically personal element, still the environment in which we find ourselves contributes to it. God has blessed Americans with universal education, an over-abundant food supply, and almost limitless opportunity to practice virtue. Like the good leper we seek salvation today as we turn to God in thanksgiving for all our blessings.

Homilette for Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Memorial of Saint Josaphat, bishop and martyr

(Titus 3:1-7; Psalm 23; Luke 17:11-19)

Why is Jesus annoyed with the nine men who do not return to give him thanks? Is he not aware that their first reaction after being completely marginalized by leprosy would be jubilation, not thanksgiving? Perhaps he is personally offended that all ten former lepers do not acknowledge his healing authority? Or is there another explanation, more characteristic of Jesus?

The Fourth Preface for Weekdays provides an intriguing answer to these questions. The preface is the prayer of thanksgiving that the priest makes on behalf of the people at Mass just before the consecration of the bread and wine. The Fourth Preface uses these words: “Our prayer of thanksgiving adds nothing to your greatness but makes us grow in your grace.”

In the gospel Jesus is not upset because he feels slighted by the nine lepers who do not return. Rather he is sorry that they do not take advantage of the grace that God extends by our giving thanks. Jesus reveals God’s inestimable gift when he tells the grateful leper, “...your faith has saved you.” As terrible a curse as leprosy is, it cannot compare to the oblivion of eternal damnation. The tenth leper has found his way to everlasting life, the greatest of God’s benefices. The other nine may now have an easier path to walk on earth, but they still have to work out their salvation.

Homilette for Thursday, November 22, 2007

Thanksgiving Day

Luke 17:11-19

Why is Jesus annoyed that the other nine lepers do not return to give him thanks? Can he not appreciate how their first reactions after being so completely marginalized might be jubilation, not thanksgiving? Since he healed ten, does he feel personally offended that all do not recognize his power? Or is there another, explanation, more characteristic of Jesus?

The fourth preface for weekdays provides an intriguing answer to these questions. The preface is the prayer of thanksgiving that the priest makes on behalf of the people at Mass just before the consecration of the bread and wine. One option of the many prefaces available uses these words: “Our prayer of thanksgiving adds nothing to your greatness but makes us grow in your grace.” In the gospel Jesus is not upset because he is slighted by the nine lepers who do not return. Rather he is sorry that they do not take advantage of the gift that God extends by our giving thanks. Jesus reveals God’s inestimable gift when he tells the grateful leper, “...your faith has saved you.” As terrible a curse as leprosy is, it cannot compare to the oblivion of eternal perdition. The tenth leper has found his way to salvation, the greatest of God’s graces.

Today we pause to thank God’s for many gifts, but especially prosperity to our nation. Although salvation has a radically personal element, still the environment in which we find ourselves contributes to it. God has blessed Americans with universal education, an over-abundant food supply, and almost limitless opportunity to practice virtue while securing for ourselves and our families a good life. Like the good leper we seek our salvation as we turn to God in thanksgiving for all these blessings.