RETURN AND GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD

RETURN AND GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD

Fr Luke A Veronis

Countless Blessings! Life is full of a bounty of immeasurable blessings. Once a year as a nation, we pause to thank Almighty God for these blessings. We gather in this church to remember and thank the Lord for His goodness and graciousness seen and unseen, blessings remembered and forgotten, riches we receive every day simply because God is good. As Orthodox Christians, gratitude is not just a polite feeling but a profound way of life, the very language of heaven.

We heard the Gospel story of Jesus healing the ten lepers, ten people who not only lost their health, but lost their community, their family, their social connections, and their dignity. With a word of compassion, however, our Lord Jesus restores them to life. In response, however, only one turns back, falling at Jesus’ feet and thanking Him.

Then Jesus asks the haunting question that each of us must ask ourselves. “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?” Where are YOU, Christ asks? Have you taken for granted all that I have given you and have you forgotten to say thanks – not only with our words but in your acts of generously sharing your blessings with others?

It is striking that Christ offers His miracle of healing equally to all ten lepers. God’s mercy is unconditional, abundant and free for all! Yet, only one has the spirit to acknowledge the gift and respond with gratitude. Physical healing alone didn’t make this man whole. Christ’s final words are striking: “Your faith has made you well.” Jesus highlights that this man’s spirit of gratitude healed him completely. The Fathers often say that gratitude is itself the fullness of healing, because it restores our relationship in a healthy way with God.

Saint John Chrysostom famously said, “A grateful heart is greater than the gift itself.” Why? Because the grateful heart shows that we recognize God’s presence in all things. Saint Isaac the Syrian affirms this: “The one who knows how to give thanks for the least of God’s gifts has learned the secret of receiving the greatest of His gifts.”

Gratitude is not something we express only when life is smooth. It is something we choose, something we practice, a spiritual discipline we cultivate. The Samaritan leper saw and understood in a way the others did not see. He recognized the Divine Giver behind the gift.

There is a story told by the spiritual writer and priest, Henri Nouwen, that captures this spirit. Nouwen once visited a man named John who lived in a long-term care facility. John was confined to a wheelchair, unable to speak, and could communicate only with his eyes. When Nouwen arrived, he felt uncomfortable and helpless. What could he offer this man?

But then something beautiful happened. As Nouwen sat beside him, John’s eyes lit up. He slowly lifted his hand and pointed to a simple wooden cross that hung on the wall. Then he pointed to Nouwen. Then back to the cross. With great effort, he smiled.

In that moment, Nouwen understood that John was saying, “Be grateful. Christ is with us. We have everything we need.” Later Nouwen would write, “Gratitude is not simply a response to life’s circumstances but a discipline of the heart. It is choosing to claim the blessing of God even when the blessing is not obvious.”

From a man who could not speak, could not walk, could not feed himself, came a lesson of thanksgiving. Like the one grateful leper, he returned, not with words but with his whole being, to give glory to Christ.

Father Alexander Schmemann once said that the true Christian life is Eucharistic. This means our entire existence becomes one of thanksgiving when we realize that everything in life is a gift. In his journal, written near the end of his life as he battled cancer, he wrote a simple, powerful line:

“Thank you, O Lord! Thank you!” Even as his body failed its battle with cancer, his spirit overflowed with thanksgiving. He recognized God’s presence even in the valley of suffering.

This is the heart of the Gospel. Gratitude is not a reaction but a revelation of God’s presence everywhere in our life. It is a discipline we cultivate so that we train ourselves to see God’s hand in everything, and in response we say, “Thank you!”

So today, in the spirit of that one Samaritan who returned, in the spirit of the paralyzed man, and in the spirit of our Church Fathers, let us we ask ourselves:

• For what do I need to turn back and give thanks?
• What gifts have I taken for granted and forgotten to express gratitude?

May I get up and return to the Lord, thanking Him for His countless blessings.

• True gratitude transforms
• our greed into generosity
•  our judgement into compassion
• our anger into kindness
• our envy into graciousness
• our hard heart into love

“When you thank God for everything,” Saint Porphyrios said, “the Spirit of God floods your soul with light.” May each day of our lives be filled with such light.

May we never be counted among the nine who walked away, physically healed but spiritually unchanged. Let us be the one who returns, falls at the feet of Christ, and cries out daily, “Glory to God for all things!”