Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time • Year C

The biblical readings of this Sunday focus on a theme of Thanksgiving. We are still a month away from our national celebration of that one day of the year when everyone thinks of that word. Yet we all know that “giving thanks” is not meant for one day of the year any more than Mother’s Day is meant to show love to our mothers only one day of the year. Thanksgiving is a mindset, born of the conviction that what we have is gift.

This is not hard to remember when we are in times of great need or distress. Any sign of hope, any silver lining, gives us pause, and we thank God. But when things seem to be moving along fine, when we don’t experience any major trauma to our psyche, we tend to think that all we have is through our own efforts, we boast of what we have accomplished, and then, why give thanks? It is the mind set that differentiates the one who is thankful, from the one who is boastful.

We see both attitudes in the readings today. The first reading tells us of Naaman, a leading figure of a foreign empire that goes to Israel to be cured of leprosy by God’s prophet Elisha. He wants to give thanks, so he offers all kinds of riches to the prophet. But Elisha knows that he did not cure Naaman, he was only the messenger of God, who in the end decided to cure him. So, Elisha knows that the thanks belong to God, the source of all good, and Naaman comes to know this as well, taking soil back in order to give thanks and worship the one true God who cured him.

The same illness affected the 10 lepers at the margins of the town where Jesus was headed. Leprosy was a dreaded disease, not understood in those times. So, lepers were not only physically ill, but they were also social outcasts. They stayed on the margins and didn’t enter the town. Jesus’ curing of them, therefore, was not only a cure of a physical infirmity, but was also the tearing down of the wall of separation that kept them from interacting with other people. It was, in a literal sense, a liberation of all that oppressed them. Yet in the joy of their newfound freedom, they forget the source of it. Like the one who has abundance, the temptation is not to see all as a gift. Only one of the lepers knew that what he now had was a gift, and thus came to give thanks.

St. Paul know this more than most. In today’s reading, he writes from jail, recalling that he is now in chains for preaching about Jesus. But Paul looks upon everything as springing from the power of Christ, and so declares that while he is chained, God’s word is not chained. God’s word will still works its power. Paul elaborates, telling us that because we have died with Christ, in our baptism, we now live with Christ each day. And if we persevere, we will reign with him forever. Paul is writing to a persecuted Church, as a chained and jailed man. To persevere with Christ and not to go over to the side of the government oppressing them was no easy ask. But it was possible because of the power of God in them and their belief that God is the ultimate way, truth and life.

Persevering with Christ was not only the challenge of the first-century church of martyrdom. It is our challenge today. We are buffeted by political divisions, and often, we respond by running into our silos to reinforce our beliefs, maligning those who have a different way of thinking. Sometimes even the most tragic acts of violence are used because hate has overcome all claims of reason. In these times, it is important that we not forget to ask, “Are we persevering with Christ?” Where is the source of our values?

This month of October begins the Jubilee of Migrants. During the Jubilee year there are weekly and sometimes more frequent Jubilee events for different sectors of society, in order to underscore that our reaction to the migrants living in our midst should not be fear, nor hatred, but mercy, because we are merciful as the Father is merciful. If we live in abundance, that mercy is a response in thanksgiving that recognizes that all we have is gift and should be shared. If we live worried about our jobs or families, then our mercy still comes from the God who lives within us and asks us to be faithful to him and the poor who reflect his face to our world.

This coming week is the Jubilee for Marian Devotions. Mary will always be a model of that fidelity to her Son which we hope to imitate. Through the many devotions towards her over the course of 20 centuries, countless people have been strengthened in following the Lord despite the cost.

So, these two jubilees – one for Migrants, one for Mary – bring us back to the message of God’s word this Sunday. Mary is the symbol of thanks, the women who knew that the task was not easy but who still sang as she met Elizabeth shortly after the visit of the angel: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my savior.” The task given here was difficult, but she still saw it as gift, and responded in thanks.

The Migrants are, as Pope Leo stated in his message for the occasion, “Missionaries of Hope.” We can see in them the face of Christ and are called to be thankful for that presence. In this way, we see them as messengers to us of God’s love and grace, and like the returning cured leper, we too allow ourselves to be touched by Christ, and then raise a prayer of thanks for the migrants who are Christ’s presence amongst us.