GIVING THANKS TO GOD
Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C (09/10/2022)
(2 Kings 5:14-17; Psalm 98:1. 2-3. 3-4; 2 Timothy 2:8-13; Luke 17:11-19)
By Fr. Samuel Odeh
“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you”(1 Thessalonians 5: 18). Our first reading today from the second book of Kings is the story of the cure of Naaman the leper. After finally obeying the instruction of Elisha the man of God to bathe seven times in the river Jordan, he is cured of leprosy. We are told that his flesh became again like the flesh of a little child. Naaman returns to Elisha proclaiming his faith in the God of Israel alone. He offers gifts in thanksgiving but the prophet refused to accept them. He then asked to take some of the soil of Israel back home to Syria with him so he could worship the LORD on it, promising to offer sacrifices and holocaust to the LORD alone.
In our Gospel reading today, as Jesus continues on his journey to Jerusalem, he is met by ten lepers at the entrance of a village. According to the laws of the time lepers were socially excluded which explains why they stay apart from people. They ask to be cured and he cures all ten of them. However, one of them glorifies God in a loud voice and returns to Jesus and falls at his feet and thanks him. Just like Naaman the Syrian in our first reading, the one who returns to thank Jesus is also a foreigner, a Samaritan. The Jews in the time of Jesus looked down on the Samaritans because they worshipped God in a different way; the Jews did not consider the Samaritans a righteous people. In the example of this Samaritan who returns to give thanks, faith has been found in a surprising place and Jesus praises him for it. The Samaritan, being a foreigner, was the only one who did not hold on to a sense of entitlement. Unlike the nine other lepers, who were all Jews, he did not consider it his right to be healed by Jesus. All ten lepers received the gift of healing but the Samaritan who returned to give thanks was the only one who received salvation. “Your faith has made you well,” Jesus tells him. In other words, his faith has saved him, he has won God’s favor. Do we give thanks for all the benefits in our lives? For every meal we eat, are we thankful to God. Do we thank God for the gift of the Eucharist? Are we grateful for the air we breathe daily? Are we thankful for our lives? For our faith to save us we must recognize the gifts and blessings God has placed in our lives and actively thank him. Do we remember to pay our tithes for instance? Let us remember to give praise and thanks to God for every gift in our lives.
In our second reading today from his second letter to Timothy, Saint Paul talks about putting up with suffering and bearing hardships so that those who are chosen, the elect, may receive salvation through Jesus Christ by his example and preaching. He does this because God remains faithful even when we are unfaithful. A Christian must be thankful to God in all circumstances if they want to be saved and this will serve as an example and testimony to others of our faith in Christ Jesus. May we all hunger for the faith that saves. Amen.
