At the Feet of Jesus

November 27, 2008

Thanksgiving Day
May [God] grant you joy of heart and may peace abide among you; May his goodness toward us endure in Israel as long as the heavens are above. Sirach 50:23-24

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.” Luke 17:17-19

Piety

From the People’s Companion to the Breviary (Vol. II) for Thanksgiving Day.

How can we repay you, O God, for all your goodness to us.

Most gracious God, you have blessed our land with more than we need;
-- Increase our spirit of generosity that we may share with other lands.

You have often saved our country from the ravages of war;
-- may we never cause destruction to other nations.

You have graced our country with great natural beauty;
-- grant that we may never exploit it, but endeavor to protect it and save its natural resources.

O God, our forbearers sat at table with our native “Americans” giving thanks for your bounty;
-- help us in our endeavors to restore the rights and dignity of our indigenous people.

You continually call us forward;
-- may we step into the future ever conscious of our responsibility to all humankind.

Study

Sometimes certain passages from scripture make a special impression upon us. Today’s Gospel is one of those special passages for me. It was the Gospel reading at the closing Mass for the Men’s 104th Cursillo. (In case you were wondering, there were ten candidate-lepers on that weekend.) Throughout my adult life, this reading has probably been part of Mass at least 50 times but on that date, it touched a special place in my mind.

I do not think that any of the candidates were “cured” of anything on that special weekend. Yet it was only one month after terrorist attacks rocked our national psyche and our sense of personal security. Maybe that vulnerability helped give us a sense of security and peace in those three days sequestered in Missionhurst. But on Sunday night, we had to go back into the world. We could not stay holed up in a colony of babe chicks, lepers, or any other people set apart. After being taken under the eagle’s wing, we had to fly away. Yet we (at least I did, I can not speak for the others) did so with a renewed sense of commitment in the security of the love of our brother Jesus and support of our community. Just as the lepers were reborn into the community and no longer apart, it was our turn to return to the community. But in the rush, we needed to stop and thank you…praise you. I hope we have done so. I hope we will continue to do so.

Will our faith save us? Will we be among the nine who go off to celebrate or the one who returns to the feet of Jesus?

At the Last Supper, Jesus knelt in front of each disciple to wash their feet. He called them his “friends.” Not his students, apostles, or any other term. Simply friend. They saw him in a new light as the servant-leader-friend, not as the Son of the Almighty Father.

Today, the one Samaritan serves as a role model for us…if Jesus will kneel at our feet, we should be proud, eager, and willing to kneel at his in Thanksgiving. We celebrate the leper who returned because we prayer in every Mass that “it is right to give you thanks and praise.” How can we repay you for all your goodness to us?

Action

Remember in your prayers today, all those who are not celebrating at home with their families. Remember your family, friends and others who are in a nursing home, hospital, or otherwise alone today. Perhaps you have relatives away on a mission trip or deployed to places like Iraq or Afghanistan. As you consider all for which you are thankful, remember those who have helped you along your way…especially those who are not present with you in your celebration.