Dear Christ the King Family,
During part of my Novitiate Year in Seminary formation, I was assigned to work at two different hospitals in the spiritual care department as a volunteer chaplain. Pretty much all that ministry consisted of was visiting patients in their rooms, and offering them my time in listening to them and offering to pray alongside them if they wished. It was an incredibly helpful experience because now as a priest, I have many more opportunities to visit our elderly, sick, and homebound parishioners and spend time with them in fellowship—and, most beautifully of all, to celebrate the Sacraments with them. With these kind of visits over the years, I noticed most people fall into one of two camps in general when it comes to sharing their life story: that story is either colored with gratitude or with resentment.
From my first experiences in the hospital I can remember different times coming into rooms and encountering people who were laughing heartily at the TV and cracking quick jokes, but after some time in conversation, you realize how many burdens and how much baggage that person is carrying, and how they seemed to tell the story of their life only with resentment, with this black-and-white approach to recalling every time they have been wronged, and everything that is wrong with the world. It’s draining and it’s often quite sad to listen to these kinds of stories. You often realize how lonely they are caught up in that narrow way of viewing life. But there were also many other people I encountered who were certainly carrying similar burdens, pains, and seeking the same healing and yet, in hearing their stories, I wasn’t hearing a black and white life framed in resentment…but a beautiful portrait of many vivid hues, colored through with gratitude. Despite the pains and struggles, even in the midst of those sorrows, they looked back on their lives with joy and grateful hearts, recounting the many people that were a part of their lives, recalling the many ways they have been blessed, seeing their lives as part of a greater story, and even how their suffering and pain can be united with Christ’s and play a role in that.
The heart of our Gospel reading this weekend provokes that reflection within us too. Of the ten lepers that were healed, only the Samaritan—the one who has the most surface-level grievances and reasons for resentment against the Jewish people—returns to Jesus and thanks Him. I imagine this encounter must have left the disciples taking an honest look at their own relationships with the Lord and how they express their own gratitude for God’s many gifts. Thanks be to God that every Mass is an offer to train us in fostering that same life of gratitude by gathering us to celebrate the very Sacrament whose name means thanksgiving—the Eucharist!
In Christ,
Fr. David
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