Learning from the Despised

"One of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him." Lk 17: 15-16

It can take a while to realize how present God is, especially during times of struggle. So concerned with feeling our way through the dark rooms of confusion, anger and hurt, we often forget to notice or thank people who walk quietly with us. Good friends don't expect a thank you and are embarrassed when we express our gratitude, but they deserve our appreciation.

Imagine the emptiness lepers felt in the ancient world. Shunned as unclean, they lived on the edges of cities like animals, hoping someone would show them pity. When Jesus assures them they need not fear the priests, they hurry off in the hope that they might rejoin their families and friends. Even when they realize that Jesus has healed them, they don't stop to thank him but rush to pick up their lives again. We understand this instinctively, and many commentators suggest they returned later to thank Jesus, but Jesus uses their initial ingratitude to teach us.

Samaritans were despised by the Jews. Expected to defend Jerusalem against invaders from the north, the Samaritans not only did not fight for the Holy City, they intermarried with their conquerors and eventually built their own temple, thus incurring the wrath of the neighbors to the south. When Jesus lauds the gratitude of the Samaritan leper, he challenges everyone to look not at where a person comes from, but how he lives as a child of God.

Today, be grateful for God's forgiveness.

Who are the people from whom you expect little?

Doing Justice with Gratitude

Light dawns for the just;

and gladness, for the upright of heart.

Be glad in the LORD, you just,

and give thanks to his holy name.

Ps 97:12

Being just and doing justice is an essential element of the Christian vocation. At the end of the 19th century, when the world was changing more rapidly than anyone could understand or accept, and workers were being used and abused by the newly emerging assembly line technology which left them exhausted at the end of a working day, the church, under the leadership of Pope Leo XIII wrote,

"Justice, therefore, demands that the interests of the working classes should be carefully watched over by the administration, so that they who contribute so largely to the advantage of the community may themselves share in the benefits which they create – that being housed, clothed, and bodily fit, they may find their life less hard and more endurable. (Rerum Novarum # 34)

Forth years later, Pius XI wrote even more succinctly, "In the first place, the worker must be paid a wage sufficient to support him and his family," (Quadregessimo Anno, #71) and near the end of the twentieth century, John Paul II reminded everyone, "Work is in the first place 'for the worker' and not the worker 'for work.' Work itself can have greater or lesser objective value, but all work should be judged by the measure of dignity given to the person who carries it out." (Laborem Exercens, #6)

In a world in which too many people, without work and the dignity work can offer the worker, are hungry, thirsty and naked, Jesus' command to feed the hungry and give drink to the thirsty, becomes increasingly important,(Mt 25:32-46) and our obligation to do justice gratefully an even more powerful sign of God's love for all. When we live a just life, everything and everyone changes. Not only do we practice the Gospel in everyday life, we witness to others the joy we experience in being Good News.

Today, be grateful for the food and work you have.

How do you think justice should proceed in the world?

Persistence

"I tell you, if he does not get up to give him the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he because of his persistence" Lk 11:8

Persistence in the spiritual life is important. Most people, especially as they age, develop spiritual practices that help them but do not always bring them comfort or solace. Nevertheless, they continue to pray, reflect and serve others. They do this because they know that the spiritual life is a pilgrimage that demands consistency and faith. When pilgrims learn to accept the difficult roads they are asked to travel, they discover ways to seek God and God's will even when they experience few consolations. When believers place all their trust in God, they know and come to accept that even when God seems very far way, they need not despair.

The mission of St Francis de Sales to the Calvinists is a good example of this. When Francis proposed to his friends that they organize themselves and go to Switzerland to preach to the Calvinists, everyone laughed at him. Undeterred, Francis left for Switzerland with a cousin only to be rejected everywhere he turned. People slammed doors in his face and threw rocks at him, but Francis persisted even when no one listened. After three years he had not made a single convert but, convinced that his was the work of God, he slipped his sermons under people's doors. Eventually the Swiss listened, and many thousands returned to their Catholic faith.

Today, keep praying even if it feels like no one is listening.

What are you most persistent about in the pursuit of God?

Learning to Pray

"Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, 'Lord, teach us to pray.'" Lk 11:1

What did Jesus' disciples see or sense when Jesus was praying? What did they want to learn from him? Did he seem especially quiet or reflective when he prayed? Were his disciples afraid of what they were experiencing?

Learning to pray, while simple, is difficult. Most people are easily distracted when trying to pray, and wonder whether their prayer makes any sense to God. More important, praying daily can lead believers to question whether God hears their prayer at all, and because of this some abandon quiet prayer altogether, preferring to pray the rosary or go to mass. At the same time, the Our Father is powerfully instructive.

Acknowledging God's sovereignty before all else is important because it reminds us that God is always among us, aware of our needs and anxious to be near us. Only after we put all our trust in God do we ask for forgiveness and our daily bread. In other words, asking for help is secondary to honoring the God who is always near. When we follow these simple directives, no matter what prayer we say, we will be praying as Jesus taught us and the results will not matter.

Today, say the Our Father with gratitude.

What are your biggest obstacles to a more consistent prayer life?