Thanksgiving

Our readings today is about thanksgiving, to remind us always to be thankful and to focus on what we do have, rather than what we don’t have, and to be mindful that all that we are and all that we have comes from God.

The first reading from the Book of Kings is about thanksgiving.  Naaman give thanks to God for healing him of leprosy.  Naaman, who was a commander of the Syrian army, and was very successful at his work, but he had a skin condition.  His wife had a servant girl who told him about that the prophet Elisha has the power to heal.  So he obtains permission to go to Israel, to see the prophet Elisha.  At first, He was reluctant to go, to go to a foreign nation, and ask a foreigner for healing.  But the servant girl said:  “what have you to lose.”  If it doesn’t work, then nothing has changed.  So listening to her advice, he went to see Elisha.  Elisha told him to go and plunge in the Jordan river 7 times.  After doing so, he was healed of his skin condition.  After experiencing healing, he chooses to thank God and glorify Almighty God.  The miracle is not just the physical and external, but also the internal conversion.  You can imagine that with the skin condition, he may have been ridiculed and humbled, it may have caused him embarrassment, he was afraid to be in public, so much grief that he had to go through because of his skin disease. After his healing, his life changed dramatically.  He’s grateful to God.  He had a change of heart, and he had an attitude of gratitude.  

In our psalm, praising and giving thanks to God is for all people and all nations.

Second Reading, St Paul urges the people not to forget that Jesus rose from the dead.  The resurrection of Jesus is the cornerstone of the faith, and the source of endurance. We can always depend upon the promises of Christ.  We can be grateful to God as we recall and celebrate the sacrifice of Jesus in the Sacrament of the Eucharist.

The gospel, the ten lepers were healed by the Lord, but only one return to give thanks to Jesus. And he was a Samaritan. Although all 10 people were healed, but the attention is given to the Samaritan who return with an attitude of gratitude. So, God pays attention to those who have a grateful heart.

You may know that this weekend, is thanksgiving in Canada.  Thanksgiving in the US is next month, but being thankful is never out of season.  The word Eucharist comes from the Greek word, which means to give thanks. Every Eucharist is an act of thanksgiving to God.  Sometimes we may participate in the Eucharist, wondering what we get out of it.  But What if we change our approach and outlook.  Instead of focusing more about what we need and want, let us be thankful to God for all that we are and have.  Even if we are lacking certain things in our life, we can always find something that we can be grateful for.  Many people may not be as blessed as we are. Being thankful and blessed, let us strive to share that blessing to others.

St. Peter once said, always prepare to give a reason for your hope. Similarly, we can also find a reason to be thankful. Amen.