Pastor's Spiritual Reflections

By Fr. Leo Schneider (10/14/2007)

Dear People of Holy Name,

“….and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. He was a Samaritan.” (Luke 17:16)

Parables are the closest we come to the actual teaching of Jesus. Today’s parable about the ten men with leprosy is one of them. Jesus’ audience was made up of Jewish people who would have understood the respect given to the law when the ten men who were cured showed themselves to the priest, because he was the one to decide if they were really clean and could enter back into the community.

The story becomes complicated for them when they find out that the only one to show genuine gratitude wasn’t even Jewish. It was a challenge for them to find out that simply keeping the law wouldn’t alone make them truly spiritual people. For them Jesus’ words are difficult to hear, added to their resentment against him.

This evening as I write this I am feeling very relaxed and blessed after a wonderful weekend and Sunday, praying and sharing with many of you. I can close my eyes and be grateful for my being, my life and my health. I am aware that God has blessed me in so many ways and through so many people, passed and present, that peace and gratitude come easily for me at this moment. But I must confess that I am not often in this space. Later a phone call could come, or other thoughts and concerns may arise in my mind and move me out of my peaceful place

Often I am consumed with getting things done or worrying about what I want from people, and things for my mind and heart, that gratitude takes a back seat. I freely confess this because I have a hunch I’m not alone. If you’re on board read on, if not pray for me and those of us who are.

The only remedy I can think of is to practice a spirit of gratitude. If I am at peace and grateful, now I can try and stay in this ‘zone’ if you will, as I move into the more active parts of my day. I can also take time tomorrow night and each night, to remember tonight and bring myself back to a place of gratitude, even though tomorrow there may be things on my mind that may make it very difficult.

One could even replace the nightly memorized prayers for a while and simply relax and be grateful in a focused and prayerful way for a few minutes. My hunch is that doing so would instill a spirit of gratitude in us that would become the cornerstone of our awareness, and in turn shape the way we think and live.

I like people who are grateful, they seem to be people who are happy and at peace with life, because they are grateful for life and not ungrateful for what they don’t have. It is so I like people who are grateful, they seem to be people who are happy and at peace with life, because they are grateful for life and not ungrateful for what they don’t have. It is so

Let us ask the Lord for the grace to be like the one man in the gospel who was so happy with the blessing of healing he had received, that he came back to the one who healed him and gave thanks. How blessed we are to have each other, and to pray for ourselves and each other for the one gift that brings peace and contentment to the heart, as we rest in the knowledge of the goodness of God, who has blessed us so richly and allows us to live and move and have our being.

May God bless us with a deep and profound sense of his blessings that we may live in a spirit of gratitude!

In Christ’s peace, Fr. Leo