The Implications of Gratitude

The Implications of Gratitude

November 24, 2024
Thanksgiving
Helen Weber-McReynolds, RWCP
Sirach 50: 22-24; Ps. 100; Phil 1:1-11; Luke 17: 11-19
  
           A few years ago, Tom Hanks starred in a movie named A Man Called Otto. It told the story of a depressed widower who was drawn out by the needs of his neighbors to become a generous teacher and benefactor. He learned to overcome his grief by giving his most precious possessions, and more and more of himself, to the people around him. Gratitude for the love he had had for his wife and their life together turned him from a grumpy loner to a treasured friend to many. His neighbors learned to be very thankful for him.

          Gratitude is a complex idea. It is not only saying thank you. It is appreciating the value of the gift. It is endeavoring to learn to imitate the generosity of the giver, by passing that generosity on to others. It is protecting the gift, treasuring the gift, and working to grow to be worthy of the gift.

          This is the collective truth our readings today tell us about gratitude. The passage from Sirach tells us how to give thanks to God for our blessings, holding up as examples both “the wondrous things of earth,” and growth itself. And then Sirach modeled how to show our gratitude by carrying on God’s work, saying, “May God’s goodness liberate us to be God’s goodness, in our days, for all days.”

           Then we read in our second reading how Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, offered another example of gratitude and appreciation. He showed the depth of his love for the people of Philippi, by praying for their comprehension and growth in wisdom in the faith, by saying: “May your love abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best. May you have clarity and singleness of heart. May you be ready on the day of the Christ. May you be filled with the fruit of justice that flowed through Jesus the Christ and flows on to us. May all this be done to the glory and praise of God. “

What I hear is Paul praying that his followers, and then their followers after that,  may grow more and more in appreciation of God’s love, and in making it a reality to everyone around them.

           And in the Gospel, Jesus praises the gratitude of the healed person who came back to thank him, and to glorify God. Jesus said, “Your faith has made you well.” In other words, the depth of your gratitude for God’s love has made you well. Your strong belief in the power of God’s love has made you well. Your complete vulnerability to God’s will for you has made you well. Your demonstration of praise for God has made you well. Your desire to imitate God’s love in your life by being grateful has made you well.

           What profound examples of gratitude the people in these readings are for us. In the light of our present American political reality, the crisis of climate change, and our continuing struggle to understand and appreciate the beauty of our human diversity, gratitude is both essential and difficult. We need Sirach, Paul and the Philippians, and Jesus and the person who was cured to teach and inspire us. They each dealt with their own crises, but rose above them to be thankful. And they spoke words of gratitude that have been passed down to us. Let us pray that we may find ways to follow them in being grateful and to teach gratitude with our lives.