Sunday 13 October 2019: Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

It seems that no one has returned to give thanks to God except this foreigner

...Jesus tells the Samaritan that it is ‘faith’ that has saved him. His companions, too, we may presume, also had faith – evidenced in their common plea with him, and the fact that they too have been healed - because Jesus is surprised that they have not returned. But, unlike the one who returns, they do not have the gratitude that is the expression of a lively faith. If faith is a trusting readiness to receive the great things God does for us, it is also a grateful recognition of what God has done and is doing in our lives. The Samaritan helps us understand what this awareness involves. He ‘turned back praising God at the top of his voice’. Our relationship with our God is quite unique; the other relationships that shape our lives cannot be compared with it. Our awareness of our indebtedness to God should deepen more and more this unique relationship, as we grow in wonder at the blessings of each day. It is not by chance that we call our principal act of worship, our ‘Eucharist’, our ‘Thanksgiving’...

Extract by John Thornhill sm - read more at The Emmaus Series | Image courtesy of pixabay.com