28th Sunday: Recognizing the Gifts of God and Giving Thanks

How can the virtue of gratitude be acquired?  Fundamentally, cultivating the spirit of gratitude requires us to develop humility.  We need to understand that everything that we have and everything that we are is a gift.  We might begin by taking out a pad of paper and a pen and making a list of all of the wonderful gifts that we receive each day of our entire life.

CORPUS CHRISTI, TX (Catholic Online) - "And one of the them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him" (Luke 17: 15-16).

The virtue of gratitude is the ability to express our thankful appreciation in word or deed, to the person whose words or actions have benefited us in some way.  The truly humble and noble person will always be grateful for the benefits received.  Ingratitude is an ugly sin.

How can the virtue of gratitude be acquired?  Fundamentally, cultivating the spirit of gratitude requires us to develop humility.  We need to understand that everything that we have and everything that we are is a gift.  We might begin by taking out a pad of paper and a pen and making a list of all of the wonderful gifts that we receive each day of our entire life.

We could start with life.  We have been given the gift of life.  Consider the air that we breathe.  We take such things as air, water and even good health all for granted.  We need to consider our families, the houses that we live in, the food that we eat each day, our education, our jobs, and the fact that we live in a free country.   

Once we consider the obvious gifts that we have received, we can go deeper.  Take into consideration all that God has done for us.  He loves us unconditionally.  We have the Catholic Church, the Bible and the Sacraments.  We can all remember how a Catholic priest inspired us in a homily, gave us an encouraging word in Confession, or came to visit us while we were sick. 
   
We need to understand that we have received so much.  Should we not always be grateful?

The virtue of gratitude can be expressed in very simple ways.  We should always express our gratitude. The phrase "thank you" should be a common part of our daily vocabulary.

G. K. Chesterton once said: "You say grace before meals.  All right.  But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink."  He also said, "When we were children we were grateful to those who filled our stockings at Christmas time.  Why are we not grateful to God for filling our stockings with legs?"

The French philosopher Jacques Maritain once said that "Gratitude is the most exquisite form of courtesy."  He is correct and it is important that we acquire good manners and social graces.  The loss of morals and common decency has caused the gentleman and the lady to be something of the past. 

The acquisition of the virtue of gratitude is very important, however is equally important that we serve others with a spirit of detachment.  We must not look for recognition or earthly glory.  We must continue to love others without seeking anything in return.  Let us remember what Jesus teaches us in the Sermon on the Mount: "your left hand must not know what your right hand is doing" (Matthew 6: 3).

As disciples of Jesus, we are called to give ourselves unconditionally to the service of our brothers and sisters.  No matter what our state in life may be, we are called to give of ourselves with detachment from all worldly glory.  We experience true evangelical freedom when we serve with a spirit of total detachment.

The egotist is saddened when he does not receive recognition for the good that he has done for others.  When applause is not heard, when awards are not given and when attention is not received, the egotist retreats from his good work and fades away in self-pity. 

We all know that people can be very ungrateful for the service that is given to them.  How many people thank those who give of themselves unconditionally?  Parents, teachers, clergy, police, firefighters, doctors and nurses many times live thankless lives.  Nevertheless, the Gospel calls us to give of ourselves unconditionally and seek as our only reward eternal life in heaven.  This is true Christianity.  Any other posture is simply rooted in egotism. 

The standard of greatness for Christianity is not earthly glory, but the Cross of Jesus Christ. 

Many times we may receive appreciation and thanks from those whom we serve.  Birthday celebrations, little expressions of thankfulness and gifts from grateful people should be seen as noble manifestations of gratitude.  However, we must remember the example of Jesus.  Only one of the ten lepers returned to give thanks for having been cured.  It is important to remember, that despite the ingratitude of humanity, Jesus continued his mission until his consumatum est.  His reward was the cross and the empty tomb. 

When we serve with a spirit of detachment, we will walk among our brothers and sisters, even among those who have been ungrateful and hateful, with joy and a smile. The disappointments and adversities that others may cause, will purify our interior motives and allow us to focus on eternity.  

There is an interesting parallel between this Sunday's Old Testament reading from the Second Book of Kings and the Gospel passage from Luke.  Naaman of the first reading and the Samaritan of the gospel narrative are two men that were hated by the Jews of that time.  The lesson here is clear.  God loves everyone and has come to save all of humanity.  Everyone needs to recognize the love of God and the salvific act of Jesus Christ on the Cross.  The Responsorial Psalm reminds us of this truth.  "The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power."

So, as we consider this Sunday's gospel narrative, we recall that gratitude is a rare virtue indeed.  We need to be filled always with gratitude for God's unconditional love.  We need to always thank all those who serve us and love us with the generous service.  Ten were cleansed, were they not?  Where are the other nine?" (Luke 17: 17).

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Father James Farfaglia, the Happy Priest, is the pastor of Saint Helena of the True Cross of Jesus Catholic Church in Corpus Christi, Texas.  Father has a hard hitting blog called Illegitimi non carborundum.  He has also published a book called Man to Man: A Real Priest Speaks to Real Men about Marriage, Sexuality and Family Life.  You can contact Father at fjficthus@gmail.com.  You can click here for the audio podcast of this Sunday homily.

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