St James Catholic Church

As we gather to celebrate the Eucharist, let us not forget that the word “eucharist” means thanksgiving.  This Greek word is used to describe what Jesus did before sharing his body and blood at the Last Supper.  Today, as always, we give thanks to God for all the blessings we have received and continue to receive, especially for Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, whom we receive in a special way at every Eucharist.

The Gospel of Luke 17:11-19, “The healing of the ten lepers”, is often used on the holiday of Thanksgiving.  While the nation sets aside one day to give thanks, we see everyday, and especially on the weekends when we gather for Mass, as an opportunity to show our gratitude.

Taking a step back, we realize that this foreigner, the Samaritan, was mixed in with the nine native people of the Jewish race.  It is ironic that because all lepers were considered unclean, the common barrier between Jesus and Gentiles had been broken down.  If none of them had this terrible skin disease, the Samaritan would have been excluded from the group.  But because they were all unclean the other nine did not exclude the unclean foreigner.

The last essential step in both healing stories-Naamen in our first reading and the ten lepers in the Gospel-is the expression of thanks.  Even if we have never needed to be healed like a leper or welcomed like a foreigner, we have all received many gifts and blessings from God.  First and foremost, Jesus suffered and died for us, opening the way to eternal life.  Our prayer is that we will be formed into Christians and Catholics whose hearts are always filled with gratitude and praise.

Love, Peace, Joy

Fr. Bob