TWENTY-EIGHTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME October 9, 2016 Thanksgiving is a habit of the soul Introduction to the Word: It was in 1879 that the Canadian government declared that there was to be an annual national day of thanksgiving, a celebration of the harvest and other blessings of the past year. However, it would not be until 1957 that a fixed annual date for this day of thanksgiving was established when the Canadian Parliament proclaimed: A Day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed to be observed on the 2 nd Monday in October. It is interesting to note that the Canadian government said that the direction of our thanks was to be towards God, the source of all the blessings which Canadians have received. At its very foundation, Canadian Thanksgiving was meant to be a religious celebration of God's blessings. The lepers in the readings for this Sunday will remind us that for the things we have received from God (in their case a cure) we are to respond with thanks and gratitude to God by praising God with a loud voice. But this special weekend also reminds us that Thanksgiving is not an attitude for a day or a weekend, but it must be a habit of the soul. Warm-Up: The sharing of our life experiences is sometimes a difficult and challenging thing to do, for it requires not only risk on our part, but it also requires the trust of those with whom we are sharing. There are many benefits to sharing with others events that have shaped our very lives, perhaps nothing more so than the hope that our sharing can ignite in others. All too often many of us go through life thinking we are the only ones who had a particular life-experience. There is a certain level of loneliness that this idea can develop within us, a loneliness that can begin to take away our hope. When we share with others, we give them hope, even if we are unaware this is happening. When we share with others, we remind them they are not alone, others have had similar experiences. To the extent that you are comfortable, share with the group a lifeexperience where human touch and human interaction brought you healing, whether that was physical, emotional or spiritual. CALL TO PRAYER (5 MINUTES) Leader: True disciples recognize the need for the graces and blessings of God in order to announce the Word of God to the world.
Lord Jesus, grant us the grace to believe in your Word, Christ Jesus, grant us the grace to live your Word, Lord Jesus, grant us the grace to proclaim your Word, Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Let us pray together our Heart to Home Prayer: God Our Heavenly Father, we long to make our thoughts your thoughts, and our ways your ways. As we prepare with attentive mind and open heart to hear your Word Lord, we long to be empowered with your Spirit so that we may bring your Word to our families, our parish and our communities. This, our prayer, we make through the intercession of Our Lady of the Visitation and in name of Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen. SCRIPTURE REFLECTION TIME (45 minutes) (Please select one person not including the leader to take a turn at reading the scripture passages below.) FIRST READING (2 Kings 5:14-17) Naaman went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean. Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company; he came and stood before him and said, Now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel; please accept a present from your servant. But he said, As the Lord lives, whom I serve, I will accept nothing! He urged him to accept, but he refused. Then Naaman said, If not, please let two mule-loads of earth be given to your servant; for your servant will no longer offer burnt offering or sacrifice to any god accept the Lord. The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. SECOND READING (2 Timothy 2:8-13) My beloved, remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David that is my Gospel, for which I suffer hardship, even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But the word of God is not chained. Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, so that they may also obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. The saying is sure: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he will also deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful for he cannot deny himself. The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. GOSPEL (Luke 17:11-19) On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us! When he saw them, he said to them, Go and show yourselves to the priests. And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he
saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him. Then Jesus asked, Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner? Then he said to him, Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well. The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ. (Allow a few minutes for quiet and for a brief reflection on a meaningful word or thought) COMMENTARY: You may also as a group wish to listen again to the Audio of the Lord s Day Message The Gospel today, like the first reading, presents us with a curing of leprosy, and like the first reading, the cure comes by a simple command: bathe in the River Jordan, and show yourselves to the priest. Like Naaman in the first reading, the cured leper who returns to Jesus does so praising God in a loud voice. Unlike the first reading the Gospel reveals that the cure was the result of faith on the part of those seeking to be cured, the lepers show their faith, twice! The first time is when they ask to be cured, the second time is when they go off to show themselves to the priest. This Gospel passage, and the Gospel passages for the past three weeks, have shown us the importance of faith in God and the importance of giving thanks to God for what was done. A reminder to us that our faith encounter with Jesus should evoke a response of praise and gratitude on our parts. The constant praising of God or developing thanksgiving as a habit of our soul becomes truly a life giving one for us if we choose to make Christ and not the circumstances of our life the reason for our gratitude. If all we have is Christ in our life well that is enough! But at times we seek more and look for more and even fall into the trap of believing we are owed more, have worked for more, or even forget we do in deed have more. To live with thanksgiving as a habit of our soul is to do so inn spite of when the circumstances of life do not warrant it (difficult relationship, death of a loved one, sadness, lonely, emptiness). They are human conditions of the state we live in until heaven yet when we live in thanksgiving, then the result is one which only God s spirit can produce and here is when the gospel shines brightest because our response is something only God can produce. When we walk through hardship and we are thankful - we become a light of His presence. It is not our hard work, and we should never think it is, but rather all is His Grace...His constant Grace. Thanksgiving is not Circumstance - it is Christ and having a habit of thanksgiving even when it is hard - because in it - we find what is God s will for my life?
During the days of Jesus, lepers were the outcasts of society. They were supposedly being punished for some sort of sin: they had to ring a bell or shout to warn others they were coming near, they lived outside the protective walls of the city, their life was miserable and painful, and they were not to be touched. Jesus was not afraid to encounter lepers, He touched them physically, spiritually and emotionally. Think about how the example of Jesus in this regard can impact and change our lives. Where do we begin as we strive to have Thanksgiving as a Habit of our Soul? (Allow about 5 10 minutes for the participants to react to the Commentary to identify a newly discovered insight or idea.) Questions for Reflection and Discussion: (15-20 minutes) Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thess. 5:18). This is easy to do in moments when life is a joy, but tough to do when life is a challenge. How do you do it? Share your experiences. The best gratitude is rooted in Christ not Circumstances. Share some ways where you feel this is true. Some times when you have rooted yourself in Christ and even though the circumstances was difficult, your gratefulness was strong. St Paul reminds us that while he himself could be chained, the Word of God cannot. The news that Jesus died for us to set us free cannot be chained, cannot be held back. What does it mean to you that nothing can hold back this message of our salvation? What responsibility do we have to proclaim this message? How can a lack of having Thanksgiving as a habit of our soul chain our faith (and us)? Intercessions: Leader: Let us be one in prayer for the Church, the Body of Christ: that we may deepen our reverence for the Eucharistic sacrifice which gives us life. Our response: Lord Hear us For our parish community, may the Lord continue to bless our Family of Faith as we move forward in being a welcoming community, faithful to who God made us to be and rooted in the Eucharist as the source of our evangelization - all for His Glory. We pray to the Lord For the upcoming efforts of our Service Saturday in our parish, may many respond generously to the opportunities to be a helping hand in our community. For the strength to follow in the footsteps of St. Paul, to unchain the Word of God and proclaim it with boldness, We pray For those affected by Hurricane Matthew, especially in our parish mission in Haiti. We pray.. For all the lepers of our world, those who are considered outcasts of society, grant us the graces necessary to touch them physically, emotionally and spiritually, we pray...
For our loved ones who have died and the Intentions in our Parish Book of Prayer. We pray. Leader: Let us seek the intercession of the Patroness of our Parish as we pray: Hail Mary Closing Activity and Prayer (15-20 minutes) (This time is reserved for quiet prayer as well as for an action-response to the communal reflections. You may wish to create and add petitions of prayer at this time. This time also intent to provide moments to connect and outreach to the larger community.) GROUP PRAYER/ ACTION: Throughout this Year of Mercy, Pope Francis has implored us to consider how God might be calling each one of us to be an instrument of mercy and healing in the world. GROUP PRAYER COMMITMENT Sometimes we are reluctant to share our faith to be a prophet even in our home town. Discuss and come up with a list together on how faith can be shared without having to knock on anyone s front door. These witnesses are quiet references to Christ as our reference point. (e.g. saying grace before a meal at a restaurant). Consider making a Holy Hour for the intentions of our parish community this week. Let us pray (together) Lord, our help and guide, make your love the foundation of our lives. May our love for you express itself in our eagerness to do good for others. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. Heart to Home, copyright 2016 by Father F. Freitas. It is copyrighted and cannot be published without permission of the author. The Scripture version used in this commentary is the New Revised Standard Version