Bishop Teodoro Bacani narrates a story of a boy who wrote a letter to his mother. It was said like this:
Dear Mama. This morning I cleaned our lawn that will cost you twenty pesos. After lunch, I washed the plates and utensils that was worth thirty pesos. This afternoon, you asked me to buy some items in the grocery, since the sun was hot and the grocery store was far, I would charge you fifty pesos. One hundred pesos is the total money you owe me. Signed: Your Obedient Son.
The mother wrote back. Dear Son. I carried you in my womb for nine months I charged you nothing. I had a hard time giving birth to you that I almost died I charged you nothing. When you were two years old you got sick and I was not able to sleep for three days caring for you but I did not charge you anything. All in all you owe me nothing because I love you. Signed: Your Loving Mother.
We can say that this little boy was ungrateful. He did not give thanks to his mother for everything that his mother did to him. This is just simply a story but it can happen to us concretely. Like for example, if we are in a difficult situation, our prayer to God will be like that of a fisherman together with his son in the midst of the sea riding on a boat. They met the strong typhoon to the extent that they jumped to the water. He was thinking that it was hopeless already to be saved alone by them. So he prayed to God that if he would be saved he will light a candle in a church. After awhile, he saw a log that was big enough for the two of them to ride until they reached the shore. They walked and walked until they passed a church. The son reminded his father: “You promised, Papa that if we are saved, you would light a candle in a church?” “Hi! You spoiled brat! Keep your mouth shut! I did not mean it. That’s not true! I was only joking!” blurted the father. It’s like promise is made to be broken.
Our gospel today teaches us about the striking lesson of gratitude. To explain this more, the evangelist depicted this striking event in the life of Jesus where ten lepers (9 Jews and 1 Samaritan) went to Him and asked for a healing. They are like customers asking Jesus for a healing service because they believe that Jesus could heal them. He gives it to them for free without asking any doctor’s fee. Unlike today, you will not be treated or admitted in a hospital unless you deposit a certain amount. After healing Jesus tells them to go to a priest to see to it that they really are cured as commanded by the Jewish law. As for today, they have to go to the health workers of the Department of Health and ask for a medical certificate to prove that this person is really healed.
Their leprosy did not only disfigure their bodies, it also caused them to be banished and rejected from their community.
However, only one returned to Jesus to give him thanks and he was a Samaritan. When the nine got what they wanted, they never came back. It was because they prided themselves as the chosen people of God and for them God has an obligation for them. So, there is no need to give Jesus thanks.
It is not very difficult to say, “Thank You” to those people who have done good to us or helped us in our needs. Saying this would not only help ourselves ease of the burdens but also the people who heard it can help them forget for the meantime their own hardships too. It makes our hearts soften and makes the burden of works light. It could inspire us to be in love.
Leprosy at the time of Jesus was one of the most dreaded diseases. People looked at it with a strong feeling of revulsion. Lepers were cast out and kept away from healthy people. Even in the Middle Age, if a man became a leper, the priest would bring the man to the entrance of the church and performed the burial service on him. The leper is considered a dead man walking.
Leprosy was also considered as much as spiritual as a physical disease. A vitiated body was considered the sign of a vicious soul. A person that is stricken by leprosy thought to be punished by God either for his wrongdoing or for the sins of his family.
This gospel is also about a leper. But I was shocked to find out that if we are going to spell backwardly the word LEPER, it becomes REPEL. Actually, this gospel is not only about people who are really lepers physically. They also refer to people we repel. There are many. We don’t want to touch them because they are the “untouchables.” If we have ‘untouchables’ in the upper bracket of the society, like the millionaires and especially corrupt politicians who could be hardly accused of corruption because they are untouchables, we have also untouchables in the lower bracket. One of them is our tribal Filipino brothers and sisters who are living in the mountains. They are the most neglected sector by our government and even by the church. They are the most exploited group of Filipino people.
Since today is Indigenous People’s Sunday, how can we help them? Well, first, this concerns our attitude. How do we regard them? Do we consider them as second-class citizens? If we see a dirtied child, we immediately say: “You are like B’laans.” Second is to empower them by means of formal or adult education and third, by respecting their cultures and traditions, learn from their values too.
If we do these things, then, this is our way of thanking God for giving us these people because through them we can serve our least brothers and sisters as commanded by Jesus Christ.
Reflect on these words by Mile M. Cates: “The finest test of character is seen in the amount and the power of gratitude we have.”