Lk 17:11-19 The Virtue of Gratitude

Memorial of St. Martin of Tours, Bishop
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By FR ALFONSE NAZZARO

As Jesus  was entering a village, ten lepers met him.  They stood at a distance from him and raised their voices, saying, "Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!"  And when he saw them, he said, "Go show yourselves to the priests."  As they were going they were cleansed...One of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God...Jesus said in reply, ..."Where are the other nine?" 

What God thinks of Gratitude.  It's not the miraculous healing that impresses me most about this story.  Nor is it the Lord's incredible power and willingness to heal a group of lepers.  What impresses me most about this story is the importance the Lord places on the virtue of gratitude.  People need to show their gratitude.

Why?  Because grateful people tend to be very happy people.  And the Lord wants all His people to be very happy.

A few days ago I celebrated a funeral for an elderly gentleman.  I had the honor of visiting him before he passed away.  We didn't have much of a conversation due to the severity of his illness.  But before I left him he mustered the words, "Thank you."

I knew very little about this man.  I only knew that he had been married for over 40 years and that he was in the military.  His wife told me he was a good man, a good husband and a good father.  I tried my best to capture the depth and spirit of this man.  I thought I did well until a very elegant woman approached the podium and gave her eulogy.  It was Luci Baines Johnson. 

Those who were alive remember where they were and what they were doing on November 22nd, 1963.  Luci was sixteen-years-old and a student at the National Cathedral School for Girls.  A girl ran into her classroom and announced that the President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, had been shot in Dallas, Texas.  She was unaware if her father had been shot as well.  

"No one ever said a word about my father or mother.  No one said a word period.  We were dismissed.  And I wandered out into the quadrangle of the school in a daze...I looked over and saw that the Secret Service had very thoughtfully sent a man I knew, one of my father's detail - and I turned and ran in the other direction as if I could run away from the inevitable.  And of course, I wasn't capable of outrunning a secret service agent."

Her father and mother were just fine, but now she was the President's daughter.  

For the next few years, a very special Secret Service agent would be in her life five days a week.  His name was Gene Nunn. 

Luci had never forgotten him and had come to Dallas to thank him one last time.

Thank you.  It's important for us to show our gratitude towards God and friends.  It's the right thing to do.  And we know it's the right thing to do because it does a mind, body and soul a lot of good.  It helps us to remain happy.  It helps us to remain strong.

There are two big lies we all believed in when we were children:  (1) My parents are going to kill me!  (2) My parents hate me!  But as we grew up, we left behind most of our childish ways and learned a thing or two, one of them being that there is no one in this world that will love me as much as my family.

Let's learn from those who have gone before us.  Let's show our gratitude to those who have shown us unconditional love. 

The Lord takes this very seriously, VERY SERIOUSLY. 

We should too.