Daily Gospel Reflection
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November 28, 2024
As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem,
he traveled through Samaria and Galilee.
As he was entering a village, ten persons with leprosy 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.
And one of them, realizing he had been healed,
returned, glorifying God in a loud voice;
and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him.
He was a Samaritan.
Jesus said in reply,
“Ten were cleansed, were they not?
Where are the other nine?
Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?”
Then he said to him, “Stand up and go;
your faith has saved you.”
“And one of them, realizing…” This phrase really stuck out for me. Most of the times I have read this passage, I never understood why only one person, a Samaritan, returned to Jesus, while the other nine were ungrateful for the cleansing. But, in this one word—realizing—we see the key to understanding what is happening here and probably many times in our own lives.
The Samaritan walked away with the other nine, trusting that God would cleanse him when Jesus told the ten to go and show themselves to the priests. He did not stop and wait to see when the leprosy left him before he headed out, but instead, in a spirit of faith, he headed toward the village to see the priest. And then we see his “aha” moment! He realized what God had done for him!
He turned around and glorified God, not in quiet prayer, but in a loud voice for all to hear! And knowing that this great gift was given to him, he thanked Jesus as he fell at his feet. In thinking of this, I reflect on how often I did not realize God was acting in my life. How many times has he healed me of jealousy, envy, greed, and bitterness in the small interactions of daily life, and like the other nine, I did not recognize it?
As we go through the journey of life, let us ask God to “have mercy on us” and give us the gift of realization and recognition to see him as he interacts with the ones he loves each and every day in the small and large areas of our lives. Let us truly be like the Samaritan and thank God in a loud voice!
Prayer
Mercy, Lord! We ask for your mercy! How many times have we begged you, O Jesus, for healing, for health, for conversion, for a miracle? Ten lepers were made clean, but only one of the lepers saw that he was made well. Even though we are often blind to your grace, to your love, to your healing, you shower it upon us still. You rain down abundant love and blessing on even the hardest of hearts. And we are filled with joy and with gratitude because you are good. We prostrate before you, O Christ, and we thank 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.
