St James Catholic Church

Dear Parishioners,

We gather as a community of faith to worship God, to thank God for the blessing we’ve received, and to be nourished by the Word and Sacrament. It is quite fitting that we give thanks to God when we celebrate the Eucharist, since “eucharista” is Greek for thanksgiving. Today’s readings remind us how appropriate it is to give thanks to God, just as we would a neighbor who does something special for us.

The two people at the center of the First Reading and Gospel today have a lot in common, as well as a lot of differences. Each one suffers from the skin disease then identified as leprosy. But they each has a much different status in society. Naaman, in the First Reading, is the commander of the Aramean Army, a position he achieved despite his affliction. Meanwhile, the Samaritan in the Gospel is not even allowed to live in his home village and would have had to keep his distance from everyone else. Each is a foreigner, but they came to the site of their healing in much different ways. The king of Aram sent expensive gifts to the king of Israel so that Naaman could travel there and be cured in the Jordan River. The Samaritan banded together with other lepers, the only ones he would be allowed to approach, to plead with Jesus on this journey between villages. Each one is cured of his leprosy. But the most important commonality between them is their gratitude. Each is so grateful that he has been cured that they go back to the source to thank them. Naaman humbly offers a gift to Elisha. Repeatedly refused, Naaman insists on taking loads of soil back home so that he can properly worship the God of Israel there, since it was assumed that one had to be in the land of God at the time. The Samaritan leaves the other nine and falls at the feet of Jesus in thanksgiving. This gratitude to God and determination to express it is truly the point of each story and the reason each account was considered worthy of Scripture. Let us too be a thankful people, expressing a spirit of gratitude throughout our lives.

Love, Peace, Joy,

Fr. Bob