HOMILY FOR TWENTY-EIGHTH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME (C)

Fr Billy Swan

Dear friends. One of the most influential exercises I did at school was the time when our religion teacher handed us a piece of paper and a pencil. On the top of the paper were the words in capitals ‘I AM GRATEFUL FOR ‘. Underneath were three columns with the headings: ‘The people in my life’, ‘the things in my life’ and lastly ‘anything else’. This exercise was not just a once off because we began to do it regularly together. The great value in the exercise was it taught you to see and name all the positive and good things, all the blessings and graces that we have as opposed to complaining about all that we lack. It also developed in us the attitude of gratitude and the habit of saying ‘thank you’ which changes us to become positive, hopeful and gracious people.   

Being thankful, if practiced regularly, becomes a habit. It's the best one we can have because it's the healthiest possible way of looking at life. Being able to appreciate what we have is one of the keys to fulfilment. Real enjoyment starts with being thankful. Maybe that's why the Bible tells us that we need to begin our prayers by thanking instead of asking.

In the Gospel account of the leper who was healed, he is the only one who has taken the time to come back and give thanks.  His gratitude flows from his healing but also healing flowed from his gratitude. Notice how the man who came back to give thanks was already healed and yet Jesus said to him ‘Your faith has saved you’. Giving thanks saved him and saves us too. In the Eucharistic prayer we pray that: ‘It is our duty and our salvation always and everywhere to give you thanks and praise’. Giving thanks therefore is not just a duty to others or to God. It is our salvation too.

When we realise the benefits of gratitude, we appreciate that it is the foundation of a culture and a civilization. Common courtesies go a long way to generating good will and mutual respect. The opposite is also true. When we neglect to give thanks, we slip into two bad attitudes. The first is one of entitlement – thinking the world owes us. The other is taking people and things for granted. The more this happens, the more society will decay. It is not something we can take for granted.

Finally, the Gospel is ultimately about giving thanks to God which is why we are here this evening/this morning. Note how Jesus observed how ‘no one has come back to give praise to God except this foreigner’. He did not say ‘no one has come back to give praise to ME’. From the very beginning of the Church, the first Christians met every week to celebrate what they called ‘Eucharist’ – a name which comes from the Greek word ‘to Give Thanks’. At every Mass we too gather like them to give thanks to God and obey the instruction of St Paul to the early Christians: ‘Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you’ (1Th. 5:18); ‘Continue steadfastly in prayer being watchful in it with thanksgiving’ (Col. 4:2).

In conclusion, I offer here a prayer we might offer in thanksgiving:

‘Thank you Lord for my life and the abilities you have given me. Thank you for this day and the ability to read this and be here. Thank you for your love and for your kindness. Thank you for your cross and for all you suffered for our sake. Thank you for your mercy and forgiveness and for giving me another chance, so many times after I messed up. Thank you for your resurrection and for the hope that is born from it. Thank you for your healing of the lepers and for healing me. Thank you for your beauty. Thank you for your goodness. Thank you for your truth and the gift of your peace. Thank you Lord for your friendship and for every blessing I enjoy this day. Thank you Lord. May I never neglect to thank you for it is our duty and our salvation to do so. Amen’.