Homilies

As I pray over this Gospel, I can’t help but see the comparison between leprosy and Covid-19.  Similar to leprosy, this pandemic is keeping us isolated and preventing us from being connected to each other as much as we would like.  Those who have the virus need to be isolated, quaranteed from the community. But please God, covid-19 doesn’t keep up separated from our merciful, loving God.  God’s mercy and love is the final word in our spiritual journey.

One of my all-time favorite quotes comes from a Dominican priest, Meister Eckhart: "IF THE ONLY PRAYER YOU EVER SAY IN YOUR ENTIRE LIFE IS THANK YOU, THAT WOULD BE ENOUGH." In today’s Gospel, the ten lepers are the gracious recipients of the unconditional and unending love of God. We are all God’s beloved sons and daughters. In the Gospel account, God is relentlessly pursuing us with unending and unconditional love, and the account tells us that we sometimes are relentlessly running away from the mystery of God’s love. We as a nation are at our very best when we remember the hungry in our midst and when we reach out and share from our abundance to share with the poor in our midst. We are grateful for this great nation founded on a vision of peace and justice for all people. We ask for the grace to be faithful to our founding vision as a nation. On this Thanksgiving morning, may we as a faith community ask for the grace that our community life will always be marked by a radical gratitude to our loving God. May we be mindful that Jesus is the great teacher of gratitude – grateful for the love of His heavenly Father, and He showed that gratitude in his living and dying witnessing to the Father’s love.