Gratitude with Promptitude

Adjusting our attitude of gratitude with
promptness

11/23/2017

Luke 17:11-19 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."

        In the seminary our rector – the priest in charge of the seminary – taught us two rules of etiquette that we should following religiously. Unfortunately, I have failed miserably at keeping both of them. The first was a rule about correspondence. He said: “Never let the same letter hit your desk twice.” Now, you have to remember that I went to seminary in the last millennium, when people actually wrote hand-written letters to one another. But I would let these letters pile up on my desk for weeks. Why? Well, I was afraid to touch them a second time because I knew I would have to reply. So, my solution was just not to pick them up a second time.  Not a good solution.

         The second rule was hard, too. He said: “When you return from dinner at a parishioner’s home, write the thank you note that same night before you go to bed.” Well, I’m always worried what I might write after a martini or two – in vino veritas! – so I put off the thank you note until later, and sometimes I just never get to it, as life interrupts what’s truly important. In other words, nothing says “gratitude” like “promptitude” – saying thank you promptly and sincerely.

         In the gospel today, Jesus meets ten lepers who also need to learn the lesson of gratitude with promptitude. Jesus travels through Samaria – a non-Jewish area – on his way to Galilee and comes across ten people with leprosy. He cures all ten of the people, but only one returns promptly to say thank you. To add insult to injury, it was the Samaritan who showed gratitude, while the other nine - presumably Jews - failed to say thanks. The Jews should have been the most grateful. But the other nine thought like me after the gift of a great dinner, “I can say thank you later,” but later never comes. Sometimes, if there is not gratitude with promptitude, there is no gratitude at all. And sadly, that was the case with the other nine lepers.

           My friends, may I suggest two people with whom you should practice gratitude with promptitude and not be negligent like the nine? First of all, give thanks to God. And by the way, this is the fundamental reason we come to Mass every Sunday. We shouldn’t go to Mass just when we need something: a miracle from Miracle Max (remember him from “Princess Bride”?). But rather, we go to Mass to say “Thank you, God!” for all the miracles we have received the previous week: the miracle of life, the miracle of breathing, the miracle of food, the miracle of friends, and mostly the miracle of faith. Everything is a miracle and a grace, meaning it is completely undeserved and totally unmerited, flowing freely from the generous hands of God. But most of put off saying thanks, thinking: “We’ll start going to church more when we’re retired.” And I’m glad you go to church after retirement, but isn’t that a little like the negligent nine lepers? St. Augustine regretfully wrote in his Confessions, “Late have I loved Thee, O Beauty, ever ancient, ever new. Late have I loved, Thee.” We love the Lord late in life, and we thank him even later.

        The second is a pair of persons to thank promptly, namely, your mom and dad. Do you know when we finally get around to saying “thank you” to mom and dad? It’s when we’re forty years old, and our children have become teenagers. Why? Well, we finally realize what we put our parents through when we were teenagers, and we are profoundly grateful they didn’t kill us. It’s easy to see what a gift our children are; but it takes a years to see what a blessing our parents are. We, too, are like the negligent nine lepers and often fail to say “thank you” to the two people without whom we simply would not exist.

          This Thanksgiving, don’t just worry about injecting your turkey with beer and butter; but also inject your gratitude with some promptitude. Thank Almighty God, whose miracles are measureless, and thank the parents whose patience is limitless. And do that today.

Praised be Jesus Christ!