Readings: 2Kings 5:14-17; Ps.98; 2Tim.2:8-13; Luke 17:11-19
Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.
LEARN TO SAY THANK YOU TO GOD AND THE PEOPLE HE USES IN BLESSINGS YOU, FOR THAT IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO.
There is no doubt that the compassionate love of Jesus in solidarity with human suffering is evident In the scriptures and even in our daily lives. Little wonder, we have great events in the scriptures that illustrates the compassionate concern of Jesus in our daily struggles and how he wishes to set us free from the shackles of our troubles. But how often do we show gratitude for such great love. How often do we say thank you Lord for all your have done for us. For we often take this for granted.
This is evident in our Gospel passage today, where we heard the story of Jesus’ encounter with the ten lepers. Ten of them were cured, but only one who is a foreigner among them came back to thank Jesus. From this man’s gratitude, Jesus made a comment on human ingratitude when he asked “Was there no one to return and give thanks to God except this foreigner?”
The problem is that we don’t always remember that the ultimate source of our graces and gifts is God. That is what makes the Samaritan leper so special, and distinguishes him from the other nine, because he realized that God is the source of his healing. Unfortunately, God’s greatest gifts, which is our life and health, our ability to think and achieve great things are often taken for granted by most of us, because we see no reason to show gratitude to God.
More so, the story of these lepers is a good example of how we sinners can and should appeal to Jesus for cleansing especially from our sins. We should come in faith knowing that God is always willing to cleanse every sinner who comes to Him, just like Naaman in our first reading today. But we must know that the devil does not want us to be saved, and he would tempt us to be arrogant and prideful as we heard in the story of Naaman, who went to the land of Israel seeking for healing from leprosy. And when he visited prophet Elisha, he was told to wash himself at the River Jordan seven times, and he would be healed. But he initially refused out of pride.
This was exactly how the devil tried to prevent Naaman from receiving healing, not just from leprosy but also from his sinfulness and lack of faith, by placing pride and ego in his heart. Thank God for Naaman’s servant who reminded him to be humble and do what the prophet said in order to be healed. In the end, Naaman obeyed, humbling himself in obedience to the advice of the servant and he was healed and we heard how he came to thank God and his prophet. This is also what we have in our second reading today where we heard St. Paul appreciating what God has done for him by linking all his success and challenges to that of Christ saying: if we have died with him, then we shall live with him. If we hold firm, then we shall reign with him. If we disown him, then he will disown us. We may be unfaithful, but he is always faithful.
Dear friends, I don’t know what type of leprocious problems you are passing through? Are you weigh down by sin or sickness? Are you feeling helpless and rejected? Or do I know people who are helpless and need some help? Do I feel the need of Jesus’s help in some aspect of my life? We must know that Jesus wishes to set us free from sickness, troubles challenges and manipulations of the evil ones. He desires to be with us as we struggle everyday to overcome the challenges in our families, society and the world at large. Therefore, we should not be afraid to approach Jesus for healing and restoration, all we need is an active faith and heart of gratitude just like the foreign leper and Naaman
So, let us sincerely turn to God today and say thank you Lord for all the things he has done for us. The fact remains that God has blessed us, it’s time to come back and thank him. We have been saved from sin, is time to thank God. It is time to say am sorry Lord, am sorry for having deviated from you, and now is time to come back and say thank you Lord. It’s time to let go of hurtful feelings, it’s time to let go of malice and the bitterness in our hearts and say thank you Lord for your mercies in my life. It’s time to say yes! Yes! to God and no! no! to pride and all the distracting things of this passing world. It’s time to love, is time to share, is time to bear with one another’s failings. It’s time to forgive those who have offended us and ask for forgiveness from those we have offended.
Yes it’s time to thank God and all those that he has used to bless us. It’s time to thank our father and mother, our husband and wife. It’s time to thank our siblings, our uncles, aunties, teachers, workers, employees and employers. It’ time to thank our maids, neighbours, colleagues, classmates and friends. It’s time to thank our governments, civil servants, pastors, doctors, nurses, lawyer, police officers, military men and women who are faithful in their humanitarian services. Yes, It’s time thank anyone who has been of help to us. In fact it will be a great thing if we can figure out one or more persons who has helped us but we have never thought it necessary to say thanks. Today maybe the right day to search, visit and call them and say thank you for all you have been to me. If they are dead, pray for them and extend this appreciation to their families. Don't miss this golden opportunity; don't let it pass you bye. I will not miss it, I don’t know about you. So today, let us learn to show gratitude to God and to one another, for this what God requires of us. Let us learn to say thank you Lord, for that is the right and wise thing to do
LET US PRAY: Lord God, you know our inner most being and the challenges we are struggling with, come to our aid we pray and cleanse us from all our physical, emotional and spiritual leprosies as we thank you for all you have done for us, we ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Peace be with you.
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