Be Grateful

 BE GRATEFUL

Lk. 17:11-19

I once knew a very happy married couple.  The wife told me she had a lovely husband.  He was always thoughtful and kind.  Among his many good attributes he was a very grateful man.  She told me that after a meal he would never leave the table without giving his wife a kiss and thanking her for the meal she cooked.  I think many of us could learn a lesson from that.  How many times people have slaved over a stove, family and friends have enjoyed the meal, and the person who did the hard work has been shown no appreciation.  They were just taken for granted.

I think something like this happened in today’s Gospel.  Jesus was on His way from Galilee to Jerusalem.  A band of ten lepers stood at a distance and cried for His help.  When Jesus saw them, He said, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.”  They were obedient.  They knew that before they could mix in society again, they had to be examined by the priest, and if they were cleared of leprosy, they would have a certificate saying that they were no longer lepers.  As they went, they realised they had been cured.  One of them gave his cure some thought.  He went straight back to thank Jesus for having been healed.  The other nine continued on their way and, so far as we know, never made any effort to show appreciation for their healing.

When Jesus saw the only man, who had come back to say thanks, I think from what He said, we can presume He was hurt. He said, “Were not all ten made clean?  The other nine, where are they?”  If we were to tell those nine men they hurt Jesus they would have been utterly surprised.  They would say, “You have no idea what it is to suffer from leprosy.  We had to leave our homes.  We had lost our jobs.  We could no longer attend the synagogue.  We could have no contact with healthy people, and so we had to live in hovels along with other lepers.  We were disfigured.  Some of us had lost fingers or a hand or a nose.  Our bodies smelled.  Along came Jesus and He cured us.

He put an end to such a miserable existence.  We could now go back to our loved ones and our homes.  At long last we could lead a normal life.  Why should we want to hurt a Man Who has shown such kindness to us?”  Yet, their failing to come and express their thanks, like the Samaritan did, hurt Our Lord.

How often have we been hurt when we have opened a door for someone who carried an armful of packages?  The person has walked through and hurried along without any recognition or thanks.  We have paused to let a driver pull into our lane of traffic.  Promptly they have taken this opportunity and you have found yourself saying ‘thank you’ to them.  If we have been hurt on these occasions, which I am sure has happened to all of us, you would think that no one should be ungrateful.  Yet, ingratitude is what happens so many times a day.  You would have thought we would have all learned the lesson.  Some people would say ingratitude has been around a long time, and the percentage one in ten today has remained the same as in the time of Our Lord.

On behalf of the nine who failed to come back we can be charitable and say that in the excitement of the moment, in their rush to get back to their families and friends, common courtesy slipped their minds.  It wasn’t that they were truly ungrateful; they simply forgot to express their gratitude.

Perhaps we have been guilty of the same thing.  Sometimes, it may not be too late to do something about it.  A late ‘thank you’, accompanied with an apology, is better than none at all.  Anyone can forget, but we should not use that as an excuse nor allow it to become a habit of life.  Only an ungrateful person could let that happen.  Genuine gratitude should be a habit, almost as natural as breathing.  For every blessing received, for every favour encountered, we should spontaneously express our thanks.  Forgetfulness is a lame excuse for ingratitude.  Children have to be reminded to say ‘thank you’, but surely not adults.

It is dreadful if we take blessings for granted.  Pigs will eat their swill and never consider the source of their blessing.  Very little children do that, but they are supposed to grow out of it.  Surely, we are old enough to realise that most of the benefits we enjoy were bought and paid for by someone other than ourselves?  The homes in which we were reared were bought and maintained by the sacrificial love of fathers and mothers who cared for us.  The schools in which we were taught were probably there before we were born.  We were able to use them because of the efforts of other people.  The freedom we now enjoy was purchased by the sacrifices of thousands of people whom we have never known.  The churches we attend were built by the offerings of many people, some very poor.  All these things are gifts for which we should be grateful.  The worst thing about ungratefulness is what it does to the ungrateful person.  It arrests his spiritual development and makes him forever a spiritual pigmy.

Lord Jesus, may we like the grateful Samaritan be thankful for all You do for us.  There are particularly two moments in the day when we should express our thanks, it is when we receive You in Holy Communion and when we lay our head upon our pillow at night.  What better way can we end our day than by saying, “Thank you Lord for everything”?

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