Words of Spirit and Life

​Theme: GIVE THANKS TO GOD

• 2 Kings 5:14-17; 
• Psalm 97:1- 4. R/ cf. v. 2; 2 
• Timothy 2:8-13 
• Luke 17:11-19

1. Today is the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Liturgical Year C. The readings today tell 

us to give thanks to God! Our God is a gracious, giving, blessing and favoring God! The 

proper response to our God is therefore one of thanksgiving! 

The gospel today tells us that ten lepers were cured, but only one came back to thank 

the Lord. More importantly, the gospel today tells us that ten lepers were cured, but only 

one had faith and was saved! That is the one who came back to thank the Lord! 

Indeed, our Sunday Eucharist is a thanksgiving! The word Eucharist in Greek means 

thanksgiving! Indeed our Eucharistic Prayer which begins at the Preface and ends at the 

Doxology is a thanksgiving! Thus all the eight “Prefaces of the Sundays in Ordinary 

Time” begin thus: 

“It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere to 

give you thanks, Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God, (through Christ our 

Lord)”. 

Note that it is our salvation to give thanks to God! In short, those who come to Mass 

every Sunday to give thanks to God have faith and are saved, but those who do not come 

to Mass every Sunday to give thanks to God have no faith and are not saved! That is why 

it is a Mortal Sin not to come to Mass every Sunday! 

The Gospel Acclamation today tells us: 

“For all things give thanks, because this is what God expects you to do in Christ 

Jesus”. (1 Thessalonians 5:18; SM) 

The fourteenth century German Dominican theologian and mystic Meister Eckhart 

wrote: 

“The most important prayer in the world is just two words long: thank you”. 

(Gilhooley) 

In our own century an American Dominican theologian said that if the only prayer we 

know is “thank you”, that is good enough! 

If we start thanking God right here and now, we will not be able to finish thanking him 

even at the end of the world! We thank God for the sun and moon, for the sea and land, 

for the fish and animals, etc.! We thank God for creation, for salvation and for 

sanctification! 

We thank God for the good things as well as the “bad” things, because we believe that 

God is love and that God can draw good out of evil (Gn 50:20), draw life from death 

(NT), draw grace from sin, etc.! Thus the Easter Proclamation: 

“O happy fault, O necessary sin of Adam, which gained for us so great a 

Redeemer!” (SM) 

Thus we begin our Sunday Mass with this greeting: 

“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of 

the Holy Spirit be with you all”. 

 Indeed, God is love and God can draw grace from sin in Jesus Christ!

2. The first reading follows the theme of the gospel. The first reading tells us to thank 

God and not to thank the prophet, or priest, or minister; because they are not God, they 

are only servants of God! 

 The first reading tells us that Naaman after being cured of his leprosy wanted to give 

the prophet Elisha a present to thank him, but Elisha refused the present, because he was 

not God. He was only a servant of God! Consequently, Namaan asked for some of the 

soil of Israel so that he can erect an altar on the soil of Israel in Damascus, Syria, to 

worship the God of Israel, that is, to praise and thank the God of Israel! 

 

3. The responsorial psalm follows the theme of the first reading. The responsorial psalm 

tells us to praise God for salvation! Thus the response: 

“The Lord has shown his salvation to the nations”. (Ps 97:2; SM) 

And thus the first and last sentences of the responsorial psalm: 

“Sing a new song to the Lord for he has worked wonders” (Ps 97:1; SM) 

“Shout to the Lord all the earth, ring out your joy”. (97:4; SM) 

4. The second reading tells us to proclaim the good news even in the face of persecution, 

suffering and death, so that all may believe and be saved and give praise to God! Thus we 

read in the second reading: 

“Remember the Good News that I carry, ‘Jesus Christ risen from the dead, 

sprung from the race of David’; it is on account of this that I have my own 

hardships to bear, even to being chained like a criminal – but they cannot chain up 

God’s news. So I bear it all for the sake of those who are chosen, so that in the end 

they may have the salvation that is in Christ Jesus and the eternal glory that comes 

with it.” (2 Tm 2:8-10; SM) 

5. Today we thank God for our salvation, and we ask God to continue to give us the Holy 

Spirit, so that we may proclaim the Good News, even in the face of persecution, suffering 

and death, and so that all may believe and be saved and give thanks to God! God bless 

you! Amen!