Gratitude to God
Oct
14
Written by:
Sunday, October 14, 2007
28th Sunday Ordinary Time
October 14, 2007
As you know, we have been working on several exciting projects at Saint Ed's this year, and one of them has been the sprinkler system that makes use of our well. I happened to be present the first time the sprinklers were turned on throughout our property. It was truly an amazing sight! I realized at that moment that we were witnessing the foundation of all the good things that are to come in time. Once the land has water all year, all manner of beautiful landscaping will follow. But everything depends on the foundation – the pipes had to come first.
In today's gospel, we meet ten lepers (Luke 17:11-19). Jesus takes pity and heals them all – but only one returned to give thanks for what he had received. Incredibly, only one of them recognized the hand of God. ThenJesus says an amazing thing to this man: "Go, your faith has saved you!" In other words, becoming aware of the providential hand of God acting in our lives leads to gratitude, and gratitude to God is the foundation of our faith.
Like the sprinkler system, gratitude opens the floodgates of heaven in our lives, because when we give thanks to God we are saying to him, "I trust you, even now!" or "I am grateful that you created and saved me!" or "I thank you for working everything to good in my life, no matter how it looks now!"
In order to be a grateful person toward God, we have to become aware of just how much he has done for us in our lives, how much he is doing, and what promises await us. Our world I think is mirrored very well by these ten lepers – God touches and blesses everyone of us in different ways, but how few of us recognize who it is who gives us life, died for us and waits for us with love!
The more we learn to practice gratitude toward God, the more our faith will grow, because when we thank the Lord we are acknowledging his presence and goodness in our lives. Practicing daily gratitude leads to a greater and greater awareness of all the blessings in our lives, rather than focusing on negative things. And the more we become aware of God acting, as it were, behind the scenes, the more and more faith we will have in him and his will!
Father Gary