Thanking God

Most of the roads to the heart of Christ are due to our extreme emotions: when we are extremely happy or extremely sad. St. Paul tells us to thank God always in all circumstances. Whenever someone does something extraordinary that warms our hearts, we thank them. Thanking is a part of our everyday habit and culture. Thanking could be viewed in three different ways: 1. the service we received from someone where we owe him everything – our life. In this case it is God. 2. The service we received from someone where there is a possibility of paying back and leveling the scores. 3. The service we received from unknown persons who sometimes we don’t even meet such as bus drivers or pilots, or people we thank to fulfill a culture or a habit.

Quite often we don’t know that we have a duty to thank God simply because we are living and that life comes from him. All that we have is from Him: our family, house, parents, children and all that make us what we are. If at all we thank God it is in the third category where God is unknown to us like the bus drivers or pilots or people we thank to fulfill a culture or a habit. Some people try to barter with God as if they have full control of Wall Street: ‘you have done that to me, so I will do this for you God’.

In today’s gospel the nine Jews did not come back to thank Jesus for the blessings that they received, but an outcaste came back and thanked. The Samaritan truly believed that he is cured of leprosy and his life has meaning now, thus he feels the need to thank and praise God for his mercy and love whereas the Jews though cured of leprosy did not feel wellness in their hearts. Their hearts are still sick with leprosy.

The catch word today is ‘returned’. The leper returned, glorified God. This calls for a new challenge. Our thanking God is connected to returning to God. Our thanking God has something to do with we being cured of our diseases and infirmities. If God shows His love to cure us and give us meaning for our lives, how do I show my love to Him? What do I feel deep down when I thank God? Would I tell my dear and near ones the importance of thanking God? Amen.