Sometimes we can hear heated discussions about who should be allowed to celebrate Eucharist. There are some people saying that married men should be doing Eucharist, there are also some people saying that women should be allowed to do that. Well, what should we say about that. My firm belief is that married men should do Eucharist, that women should be doing Eucharist, that teenagers and little children should be doing Eucharist. Where do I draw my belief from? From today’s Gospel. This Sunday we read that one of the lappers “turned back praising God at the top of his voice and threw himself at the feet of Jesus and thanked him.” But wait and look again at the end of the sentence: “He thanked Jesus.” If we knew Greek and read the Gospel of Luke in its original version we would have here the word eucharisteo. I think that we don’t need a big university degree to recognize here the Eucharist we attend so often I our churches. However I doesn’t mean that everybody should be a priest and celebrate the Eucharist at the altar. It would be too easy. It is easy to learn how and when to read certain prayers at Mass. What Our Blessed Lord invites to, is to embrace the way of life we saw in the leper who returned to Jesus to eucharisteo (thank) him.
We may ask why he returned to eucharisteo (thank) Jesus whereas the other nine didn’t. The nine found healing, the one who returned to the Lord found the Saviour. It is interesting that Jesus doesn’t say that he cured them but that he made them clean. Christ in his power reached to their soul. The reaching that happened through the power of the Holy Spirit made them clean, they had healing of body and soul. The man who returned to Jesus saw it. He didn’t only focused on his skin that became like the skin of the little child, tender and healthy but he realized that God entered his soul like new life that entered his body.
There is a saying that men can treat an illness but it is God who heals it, because healing of a person cannot be reduced to a good condition of the body, we are more than a body. It is similar the fact that healing of our body cannot be reduced to a good condition of our skin. Our body is more than the skin that can be seen and that is usually most apparent. Likewise you and I are more than bodies even if it is most apparent. That’s why the event described in today’s Gospel invite us to go deep when looking at ourselves. Don’t be superficial. Look at yourself in the way the leper looked at himself. He saw that the power of God didn’t just stop on the level of his skin but went right down, to the very depth of his soul.
We have just learned that what the leper did was eucharisteo (thank) Jesus. However his case in comparison of his 9 companions reminds us that we can pass by this moment of grace when God enters our life. I said that it is easy to say the prayer at the Eucharist. Now you may ask: What is difficult then in the Eucharist? What is difficult at the Eucharist is to eucharisteo (thank) God! One may say it is easy, all you need to say is: “Thank you God.” I agree that it is
easy to articulate this sentence but try now to think at least about one moment
of God’s grace you had on the last Sunday…. Monday…. Tuesday…. Wednesday….. Thursday…… Friday……… Saturday……How did you go? Are you still on Monday? Often people say to me that it is hard to make a good examination of conscience in order to remember your sins for confessions, but I also believe that it is hard for a lot of people to recall the graces God gave them. I am not talking about some extraordinary, spectacular events but I mean all these daily and awesome graces of God that, I am absolutely sure, are performed by our Saviour and for which we should eucharisteo (thank) God. I am always amazed how easily people attribute good things to good luck and bad things to God. It is interesting that New Testament talking about gratitude means a relationship with God but should we be surprised? God wants to share his life with us. Before we enter heaven to praise the Holy Trinity let us taste heaven today by praising him for great things he has done for us, in our personal life and in the Church too.
We may ask why he returned to eucharisteo (thank) Jesus whereas the other nine didn’t. The nine found healing, the one who returned to the Lord found the Saviour. It is interesting that Jesus doesn’t say that he cured them but that he made them clean. Christ in his power reached to their soul. The reaching that happened through the power of the Holy Spirit made them clean, they had healing of body and soul. The man who returned to Jesus saw it. He didn’t only focused on his skin that became like the skin of the little child, tender and healthy but he realized that God entered his soul like new life that entered his body.
There is a saying that men can treat an illness but it is God who heals it, because healing of a person cannot be reduced to a good condition of the body, we are more than a body. It is similar the fact that healing of our body cannot be reduced to a good condition of our skin. Our body is more than the skin that can be seen and that is usually most apparent. Likewise you and I are more than bodies even if it is most apparent. That’s why the event described in today’s Gospel invite us to go deep when looking at ourselves. Don’t be superficial. Look at yourself in the way the leper looked at himself. He saw that the power of God didn’t just stop on the level of his skin but went right down, to the very depth of his soul.
We have just learned that what the leper did was eucharisteo (thank) Jesus. However his case in comparison of his 9 companions reminds us that we can pass by this moment of grace when God enters our life. I said that it is easy to say the prayer at the Eucharist. Now you may ask: What is difficult then in the Eucharist? What is difficult at the Eucharist is to eucharisteo (thank) God! One may say it is easy, all you need to say is: “Thank you God.” I agree that it is
easy to articulate this sentence but try now to think at least about one moment
of God’s grace you had on the last Sunday…. Monday…. Tuesday…. Wednesday….. Thursday…… Friday……… Saturday……How did you go? Are you still on Monday? Often people say to me that it is hard to make a good examination of conscience in order to remember your sins for confessions, but I also believe that it is hard for a lot of people to recall the graces God gave them. I am not talking about some extraordinary, spectacular events but I mean all these daily and awesome graces of God that, I am absolutely sure, are performed by our Saviour and for which we should eucharisteo (thank) God. I am always amazed how easily people attribute good things to good luck and bad things to God. It is interesting that New Testament talking about gratitude means a relationship with God but should we be surprised? God wants to share his life with us. Before we enter heaven to praise the Holy Trinity let us taste heaven today by praising him for great things he has done for us, in our personal life and in the Church too.
RSS Feed
