414. Twenty-eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time (C)

Meditations no. 368 (unofficial computer-aided translation)

Gratitude to God.

The Gospel of the Mass shows Jesus passing through Samaria and Galilee on his way to Jerusalem. And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, master, have mercy on us.” Christ takes pity on them and performs a great miracle. But there is something particularly striking in the Gospel narrative. Jesus, who is moved to pity by the lepers’ plight, later suffers on account of their ingratitude: Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine?

Only one of them returns to give thanks for the great favour: And he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. A thankful soul needs to express its gratitude: O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures for ever! Let Israel say, “His steadfast love endures for ever.” Let the house of Aaron say, “His steadfast love endures for ever.” Let those who fear the Lord say, “His steadfast love endures for ever.”

Recognizing God’s infinite goodness is all we can do to respond in some way to the gifts we have received. St Thomas wrote: A poor man is certainly not ungrateful if he does what he can. For just as kindness depends on the heart rather than on the deed, so too gratitude depends chiefly on the heart… From this it is evident that however well off a man may be, it is possible to thank him for his kindness by showing him reverence and honour. Gratitude means acknowledging our own neediness alongside God’s omnipotence.

Get used to raising up your heart to God, in acts of thanksgiving, many times a day. -Because he gives you this thing and that. -Because you have been despised. -Because you haven’t got what you need or because you do have it.

Because he made his Mother, who is also your Mother, so beautiful. -Because he created the Sun and the Moon and this animal and that plant. -Because he made that man eloquent and you he made slow of speech…

Give him thanks for everything, because everything is good.

The common expression “Thank God!” should be for us a sincere exclamation. St Augustine wrote: What better words can we bear in our heart, have on our lips, or record in ink than the words “Thank God”? Nothing can be said more briefly, heard more gladly, received with greater edification or uttered to greater purpose.

To show we are grateful, we should imitate the leper in today’s Gospel. We need to acknowledge God’s hand in everything that happens to us and give him praise, since on our part there is only need, the infirmity of our wretchedness. Everything good in the world comes from him. My child, our Founder asked, have you made many acts of thanksgiving today? Tell our Lord frequently: Gratias tibi, Deus, gratias tibi! (Thank you, God, thank you!)

Reasons for giving thanks.

At Christmas 1972 our Father said: This year especially is a time for acts of thanksgiving. And I have pointed this out to my daughters and sons with words taken from the liturgy, ut in gratiarum semper actione maneamus! May we always be giving thanks to God constantly for everything: for what seems good and for what seems bad; for what is sweet and for what is bitter; for the white and for the black; for small things and big things; for what seems meagre and for what seems bountiful; for what seems temporal and for what reaches unto eternity. Let us give thanks to our Lord for all that has happened this year, and also in some fashion, for our infidelities. For we have acknowledged them and they have led us to ask him for forgiveness and to make the definite resolution of never more being unfaithful, and this will do our souls a lot of good.

What have you that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if it were not a gift? As our interior life grows, we see ever more clearly our utter dependence on God. And this leads us to a deep gaudium cum pace, joy with peace. When we draw close to the Son of God, we see ourselves as pygmies alongside a giant. We feel tiny, humiliated, and at the same time filled with love for God our Lord who, being so great, immense and infinite, has made us his children. And we are moved to thank him, now, this year, for the rest of our life, and for all eternity. How beautiful the words of the Preface sound in the Gregorian chant! Vere dignum et iustum est, aequum et salutare, nos tibi semper et ubique gratias agere (It is truly right and proper, fitting and profitable to our salvation, that we should always and everywhere give thanks to You). We are little, very little, and he is our almighty and eternal Father.

We can never repay God for all his gifts. Our thanksgiving and response will always fall short in comparison with God’s infinite dignity and immense love for us. Therefore the gratitude that stems from love knows no limit, for as St Thomas wrote: the more it is paid, the more it is due.

We thank God above all for adopting us as his children, making us partakers of the divine nature. Perhaps we have not been sufficiently thankful in the past. Now we express our filial gratitude for his continual gift of grace through the sacraments, especially Penance and the Eucharist.

We give thanks for our vocation to Opus Dei: because God has asked for all our love, all our life, all our heart, all our mind. And because he blesses our work abundantly.

My children, thanksgiving stems from a holy assurance that doesn’t destroy humility or fill the soul with pride. For it is based solely on the power of God and is made of love and of confidence about our struggle.

Gratitude is also shown in deeds.

Sincere gratitude is shown by deeds. On another occasion, Jesus told a leper after curing him: Go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded. A sign of true gratitude is the readiness to respond to God’s love with deeds. The leper who returned to thank our Lord for his cure did not merely offer the amount stipulated by the Law: he prostrated himself at our Lord’s feet and placed himself fully at Christ’s disposal.

Our Father said: May your thanksgiving be shown by the affection you put into everything, your effort at work, your service to others, your struggle to practise all the virtues… anointing everything with the balm of charity. Keep your good humour and do things well, in a holy way, in the presence of God, even if it requires an effort. Then we’ll be giving a lot of glory to God and doing great good to souls.

That is the best proof our gratitude, self-giving, and generous response. And when we have fulfilled our duties, and perhaps begin to gather the fruit, we need to refer everything to God and not give in to even a moment of pride.

This is the minimal disposition needed by those who work with souls. The instrument can never appropriate the fruits to itself. If there is any good flavour in our lives, if there is anything which pleases the Lord and wins salvation for souls and enables us to tread the paths of divine love, it is all due to God.

If our thanksgiving is truly humble, Jesus will answer us as he did the thankful leper: Your faith has made you well.

We finish our prayer by thanking our holy Mother Mary. For from her hand we receive every grace from God. She gave us Jesus, the blessed fruit of her womb. She gained for us our vocation from God and watches continually over us. Have you never wanted to tell your mother, when she showered you with kisses and toys: “How good you are!” Well… tell our Blessed Lady: “My Mother, how good you are!”