Midst of Misery

Being grateful even when you don’t feel like it

11/15/2017

Luke 17:11-19 As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem, he traveled through Samaria and Galilee. As he was entering a village, ten lepers met him. They stood at a distance from him and raised their voice, 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."

       Next week our nation celebrates Thanksgiving. I’d like to say a word about the origin of this national holiday because I believe it holds a powerful lesson for everyone, but especially for us Christians, and in particular for us here at Trinity Junior High, namely, giving thanks in the midst of misery. President Abraham Lincoln officially made Thanksgiving a fixed and perennial national holiday in 1863. But did you know that it wasn’t originally his idea? A lady named Sarah Hale, a 74 year old magazine editor wrote to President Lincoln saying, “You may have observed that, for some years past, there has been an increasing interest felt in our land to have Thanksgiving held on the same day in all States; it now needs National recognition and authoritative fixation, only, to become permanently an American custom and institution.”

      But that’s not the really remarkable part of this holiday; rather, it’s even more amazing when this proclamation occurred, in 1863. Do you remember what ordeal the United States was undergoing from 1861 to 1865? Everyone in Mr. Jones and Mr. Bruce’s U.S. history classes better know the answer. Of course, the bloodiest war on American soil, the Civil War. What’s amazing to me is that even in the midst of misery, we stopped to give God thanks, not waiting until it was all over. Lincoln proclaimed: “We are prone to forget the source from which [blessings] come…No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gift of God Most High.” In other words, even though brother is killing brother in Appomattox, and Antietam and Gettysburg, we should still stop and thank God for his blessings, and beg him to bless us with peace and an end to war. It’s easy to give thanks when all’s going great; how hard to give thanks in the midst of misery.

       In the gospel today, it’s a Samaritan who sees the need to give thanks like Sarah Hale. There are actually ten lepers outside a village – they were forbidden from entering populated areas for fear of their contagious disease. All ten beg for mercy and healing and all ten are actually cleansed. But how many return to say thanks? Only one. In the midst of their misery they receive a blessing (although they don’t realize it until later on their way to see the priests) and only one stops to say thank you. The Samaritan realizes that God is with him, even when he’s hurting and helpless, and his heart is filled with gratitude. That’s what Sarah Hale tried to tell Lincoln: even in the midst of our national misery and our civil strife, we need to stop and say thanks to God. Why?  Well, because as Lincoln said, “we are prone to forget the source from which our blessings flow” like the other nine lepers did.

        I know some of you may feel you are in the midst of misery here at Trinity Junior High, with all our homework and uniforms and rules about socks and cellphones and tough teachers. Man, this is worse than the civil war or the lesions of leprosy! Even though some of you may be suffering, I’d like to give you the same advice that Sarah Hale gave to Lincoln: stop and give thanks. And I’d like you to say thanks to three people in particular.

         First, say thanks to your parents. Many of your parents are only able to send you to a Catholic school by making great personal sacrifices. Because everyone has to pay tuition, many parents have to work overtime, or two jobs, or they don’t take vacations, or they don’t buy new clothes or new cars. That’s what my parents had to do – and they reminded me about it regularly! I felt bad when they told me that, so I studied hard, knowing the sacrifices they were making for me. But do you know what I never did? I didn’t tell them thank you for sending me to a Catholic school, in the midst of my misery. But I should have. That would have meant the world to them that I appreciated their sacrifices, instead of being just a snot-nosed and selfish teenager, which is what I was.

        Secondly, say thank you to your teachers. And don’t just say thanks to the ones you like, the easy ones like Coach Meares or Mrs. Newman. That’s easy to say thanks to them. But also say thank you to the tough ones, like Mr. Bruce and Mrs. Marsh. Boys and girls, it’s a truism to say that you learn and grow the most when you struggle the mightiest. Thank those tough teachers in the midst of your misery; they are teaching you more than you realize.

         And thirdly, thank God. I’m afraid Lincoln was right when he wrote: “We are prone to forget the source from which blessings come,” and unfortunately, Thanksgiving today only means family and football and Friday shopping. But Thanksgiving should also mean faith, and taking time to say thank you to God. That’s one reason you come to Mass every week here at Trinity: to be like the Samaritan who knew God was with him in the midst of misery and said thank you. As you know by now, the word “Eucharist” comes from the Greek word meaning “thanksgiving.” In the midst of your misery here at Trinity, we stop and say “thank you” to God.  You will be like the Samaritan and Sarah Hale.

Praised be Jesus Christ!