Daily Gospel Reflection
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November 28, 2019
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. And he was a Samaritan.
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.”
Imagine a banquet table set up in that region between Samaria and Galilee. A feast will be served…all made possible by Jesus. Around the table, there are Jews, Samaritans, disciples, other followers, those who are ritually clean, and those who aren’t. In fact, there is a place at the table for everyone! Mercy is the main course and the sides include forgiveness, healing, acceptance, unconditional love, and peace beyond all understanding. Some of the guests need to eat and run. Those who stay around enjoy more intimate moments with their host. Praise and thanks abound. The guests leave feeling fully satisfied. However, it’s more than that, for they leave feeling new, whole, and completely well.
Wherever we are setting up for our Thanksgiving feast, it is sure to be somewhere in the region between Samaria and Galilee, for we are all on the way to our personal Jerusalem. Perhaps we are like the Samaritan leper, in need of healing and feeling like an outsider, Perhaps we are hosting the feast and have the privilege of welcoming others at the table. Wherever it is, may our table be a place where mercy is extended and received, where all are welcome, and where, together, our praise and thankfulness can be food for the journey and can make us well.
Prayer
Ten lepers called on you to show them mercy, loving Savior, to free them from that terrible curse of slow and steady decay, separation from family and friends, life in a desert wilderness waiting for the end. But out of that number only one returned to give thanks to you. Lord, how good you have been to us, how often you disregard our failures and encourage us. Help us live lives of thanksgiving to you. Amen.
Saint of the Day
The U.S. Thanksgiving holiday is not a liturgical celebration, nor is it on the Catholic Church's universal calendar, but there are significant parallels between this holiday and the Catholic Mass.
The word “Eucharist”—a term that describes both the Mass itself, and the consecrated body and blood of Christ in Communion—literally translates to “thanksgiving.” In a way, Christians have been celebrating thanksgiving every day for 2,000 years.
It is no coincidence that both the Thanksgiving holiday today and the Mass involve a meal. Sharing a meal might not be the first association we may make when we think of going to Mass, but at its heart, liturgy gathers people together around the Lord’s table.
There are other parallels between the Mass and the Thanksgiving feast we celebrate today. In both cases, (in normal times) people gather from far and wide to share community together and to build bonds of connection with one another that cross geographic or social divisions. One significant way this happens is by telling stories from our shared past—at Thanksgiving we reminisce about family lore over a glass of wine, and at Mass, we read from the Scriptures to remember what happened to those who went before us in the journey of faith. Both Thanksgiving and the Mass send us back to our lives and into the world emboldened in our identity as members of the same family.
In the Gospel, when Jesus feeds the 5,000 and when he gathers with his disciples at the Last Supper, he makes four key movements: he takes the bread, blesses it, breaks it, and shares it. The same pattern happens at Mass—the bread and the wine are taken, blessed, broken or poured, and shared. So are we who gather to celebrate together—we are taken from our homes and our places in the world, and we are blessed by approaching God together in prayer. We are broken when we prayerfully join Jesus’ gift of himself in love on the cross. We are shared with the world when we are sent forth from Mass to display the love of Christ in our neighborhoods and families.
In whatever way we are able to celebrate today, let us attend to the ways that we are taken, blessed, broken, and shared with one another. Let us give thanks for the gift of God’s presence among us in the person of Jesus Christ, and in the love we share with those around our table. And let us remember to extend our fellowship and love to those who have no table or community to gather around.
This Thanksgiving—and at every Mass—let us give thanks and share our love with those who need it most!
If you are in need of a Thanksgiving prayer to share at your table today, you can find several from Notre Dame to share from our prayer card site—try this Prayer of Thanksgiving or browse other prayers of gratitude here.