Do we have gratitude and thanksgiving for the many things God has done for us? When we are facing good times, some of us may begin to think that it is through our own efforts that we are where we are. When we are facing bad times, some of us may begin to question others, or even question God, demanding to know why calamnity or problems have come our way. But how many of us are grateful and thankful to God for the many events and situations good and bad, which we have faced? It seems easy to be grateful and thankful when times are good, but are we also able to be grateful and thankful when times are bad?
In today’s Gospel, ten lepers were cured by Jesus. However, only “one of them turned back praising God at the top of his voice and threw himself at the feet of Jesus and thanked him.” The Gospel also tells us that “this made Jesus say, ‘Were not all ten made clean? The other nine, where are they? It seems that no one has come back to give praise to God, except this foreigner.’” While the ten lepers were obliged to follow the law by going to show themselves to the priests to prove that they had been healed, only one was grateful and thankful to Jesus for curing Him. In their anxiousness to show themselves to the priests and to be reintegrated to society (lepers in those days were considered unclean and were obstracised from society), the other lepers may have forgotten or overlooked the One who cured them in the first place.
What about us? Have we become more and more like the other nine lepers, cured but lacking gratefulness and thanksgiving to the Healer? Or have we learnt to become more like that one leper, who humbly and joyfully turned back to give thanks to the Healer? Have we become more and more self-centered, thinking and expecting things to be done for us? Or have we learnt to become more dependent on God’s providence?