SAMARITAN THANKSGIVING

 

Do you know what holiday tomorrow is? In the United States, the second Monday of October is Columbus Day. If you have never heard of Christopher Columbus, you should look up his biography. In our country, people remember Columbus for discovering America.

Tomorrow is also Thanksgiving … in Canada. There are similarities and differences between our celebration of Thanksgiving and the one Canadians celebrate, eh? The reason I mention Thanksgiving in October is because our Gospel (Luke 17:11-19) is often read on our Thanksgiving Day.

It's easy to see why we read this Gospel on Thanksgiving. It’s because the Samaritan man who was healed from his skin disease or leprosy, realized who gave him this gift of healing. He knew that God acted through Jesus, and so he returned to give thanks to Jesus for healing him.

When he thanked Jesus, he got down on his knees and bowed his face to the ground. He realized that Jesus was his Lord, and he was in great awe of Jesus.

It’s good to have reminders to be thankful to God, whether it’s on our American Day of Thanksgiving or the Canadian one, eh, or any day of the year. We recognize that doctors and nurses are the people who are involved in our healing, but God is the one who heals not only the body, but also the soul.

The man’s faith in Jesus not only healed him but also saved him. When Jesus said to him, “Your faith has made you well,” it also meant that his faith saved him. We are saved by faith in Christ, and after we receive His Body and Blood through Holy Communion, we sing a song of thanksgiving.

 With that, we pray. Heavenly Father, from whom all fatherhood in heaven and earth is named: Bless these and all children, and give their fathers and mothers the spirit of wisdom and love, so that the homes in which they grow up may be to them an image of Your Kingdom, and the care of their parents a likeness of Your love. We pray in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.