XXVIII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (OCTOBER 13)

2 Kgs 5:14-17 Ps 98:1-4 2Tim 2:8-13 Lk 17:11-19

“One of them, realizing that he had been cured, came back praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself on his face at the feet of Jesus and spoke his praises. This man was a Samaritan” (Lk 17:15-16). What happened with the other nine? For sure, there are millions and millions of non-Christian human beings who give thanks to God with greater veneration than Christians. Have we learned the lesson to give thanks to God for all the good things we daily receive from him? In the first place, we Christians have to live in thanksgiving believing that God is one and three: Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, that all that we have and possess comes from Him. “What do you possess that you have not received?” (1Co 4:7). “How can I pay the Lord for all the good done for me” (Ps 116:12). Our thanksgiving has to lead us to a genuine commitment, such as St. Paul’s: “This is the gospel I preach; in preaching it I suffer as a criminal, even to the point of being thrown into chains, but there is no chaining the word of God!” (2Tim 2:9). This should indeed lead us to live a life of holiness and to seek the salvation of our neighbor: “Therefore I bear with all of this for the sake of those whom God has chosen, in order that they may obtain the salvation to be found in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory” (v. 10). Thanksgiving characterizes the prayer of the Church which, when celebrating the Eucharist, manifests and becomes more of what it really is because Christ is the one who gives thanks to the Father for us, with us and in us: The thanksgiving of the members of the Body participate in that of its Head, who is Christ. In this way, every event, suffering, every joy and need may be converted, united to Christ, in an offering of thanksgiving. For this, St. Paul says: “In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus” (1Ts 5:18).