Breaking Open the Word - 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C
28th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C - October 9th, 2022
Luke 17:11-19. Jesus, having cleansed ten lepers, is grieved that but one returneth to give thanks, and he a stranger, from the G. Eric and Edith Matson Photograph Collection
This past Sunday, Mother Church presented us with Scriptures that emphasize the theme of gratitude in a special way. A Sister opened our sharing by drawing out a surprising connection between the story of the ten lepers and our special “Passion Vow.” She noted that Our Lord’s words to the lone thankful leper (“Where are the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?”) provide a window into the way our ingratitude grieves His Heart. We as Passionists, however, have the great joy of being able to console Him by our vow of gratitude – “to promote devotion to and grateful remembrance of the Passion and Death of Jesus Christ”!
In one sense, this is a very sweet obligation and one that is a joy to carry out. However, the challenge arises when we consider that our thankfulness must be particularly evident when the Cross is heaviest. As the Alleluia verse for this Sunday put it, “In all circumstances” – good or bad! – “give thanks …” How are we to achieve such an attitude, which seems contrary to human reasoning? The answer lies in the second half of that verse: “… for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.” It is through Christ and His Redemption that we receive the power to be thankful and even joyful in the midst of tribulation. His Cross has not only saved us – it has transformed and given profound meaning and power to our own suffering. Could there be any greater reason to give continual thanks?
Another Sister was struck by the way that healing was tied to obedience in both the Gospel and the First Reading. The ten lepers are cleansed as they are fulfilling Jesus’ command to “go and show yourselves to the priests”; Naaman is healed by obeying Elisha’s command to bathe seven times in the Jordan river. Very often God has a grace, a gift, or a healing in store for us when we least expect it. If we want to be open to these “surprise graces,” then the best thing we can do is to be faithful in obeying God’ as His Will is revealed to us in everyday life. God’s Will, after all, is not just a matter of big, life-changing decisions – it is just as operative and as sanctifying in the small duties that are part of our state in life. A mother cooking a meal for her family, a priest celebrating daily Mass, a student preparing for an exam, a religious praying Vespers, a grandparent watching the grandkids for the afternoon – these sorts of “everyday” tasks, when carried out in love for God, can be openings for His grace to enter in a powerful way.
The transforming power of gratitude was a theme of a third Sister’s reflections. She shared how much she had been graced by means of the simple practice of listing three things for which she was grateful each day. Such a practice opens our eyes to the great and small ways God is blessing us at every moment, and the more aware we are of His gifts, the deeper our thankfulness grows. This exercise can also help to build our trust, as we can say to the Lord, “You have been faithful in these small things – I can be confident that You will also be faithful in the big things!” In fact, we can even begin to recognize blessings where we had only seen challenges before. Being given a job we dislike becomes an opportunity to practice obedience; making a mistake becomes a chance to grow in humility. This sort of attitude makes clear the wisdom of what St. Therese’s asserted at the end of her life: “Everything is grace!”