Dear friends in Christ
One of the hallmarks of a Christian is, or should be, the virtue of gratitude. Not only do we have much to be grateful for: life, our Faith, our gifts and talents, our relationships and so forth, but also we have the obligation born of Christian charity, to express gratitude to others. The Readings of the Mass this Sunday are expressions of thanksgiving: the cure of Syrian Naaman, and the healing of the lepers in the Gospel. Jesus was amazed at the lack of gratitude of those who had been cured but failed to return to give thanks to God. Gratitude should be in the DNA of the Christian. The very centre of our Faith expressed each week in Holy Mass is thanksgiving which is the form of the Eucharistic Sacrifice. We are living in a world today which is characterised by a sense of entitlement. Everyone is very aware of their rights and privileges. Very often, however, there is not a corresponding sense of gratitude for what we received. Perhaps we somehow think that we are entitled to a pleasant existence. We cannot forget the message St Augustine drew from this Gospel of the ten lepers: What is ours but the sins which we have committed? What do you have that you did not receive? Our lives should be a continuous act of thanksgiving. Let us thank God for everything. St Bernard teaches us that he who humbly acknowledges his indebtedness will naturally be promised even more. Whoever is faithful in a few things will justly be entrusted with many things. Conversely, he who is ungrateful for present favours has probably been ungrateful for past ones. Let not a day pass us by, without expressing our gratitude to God for His goodness to us. Let not a day go by without us showing our gratitude, in words and deeds, to those who show us kindness.
Let us continue in this Month of the Holy Rosary, to take up this great weapon of prayer for peace on our continent and in the world at this precarious time. May the Queen of the Holy Rosary be our safeguard and security in the face of all evil, war and destruction.
God bless you all and keep you safe under the protecting mantle of His Mother!
Msgr Kevin Hale