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Message from our Pastor - October 12, 2025
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Dear Sisters and Brothers,
Today’s Gospel invites us to reflect on the meaning of gratitude through the story of the ten lepers. They came to Jesus in desperation, longing for healing. To grasp their plight, we must recall what it meant to be a leper in the time of Jesus. More devastating than the disease itself was the isolation it brought: lepers were cut off from family, excluded from society, and forced to live as outcasts. The Law required them to dwell apart, outside the camp, warning others from a distance. They were considered the “living dead,” feared more than pitied.
Yet Jesus, moved with divine compassion, broke through these barriers. He did not avoid lepers; He spoke with them, touched them, and restored them. For Jesus, the first concern was never ritual law but human dignity and life.
Among the ten who were healed, one stands out—a Samaritan. As an outsider doubly rejected, despised by Jews and tolerated only by his fellow sufferers, he alone returned to give thanks. He fell at the feet of Jesus in gratitude. The words of the Lord reveal both sadness and longing: “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?” Ten had prayed “please,” but only one returned to say “thank you.”
This moment in the Gospel is striking, for it is the only place where Jesus directly insists on the duty of gratitude. And it challenges us, because ingratitude is not only a fault—it is also a burden. Have you noticed that ungrateful hearts are rarely joyful? Gratitude, on the other hand, enlarges the soul, enriches our days, and allows God’s blessings to blossom fully within us.
So the Gospel asks each of us: to which group do I belong? Am I like the Samaritan who returned, or like the nine who walked away without a word of thanks? Perhaps all of us must pray from time to time: “O God, You have given me so much. Grant me one more gift—a grateful heart.”
Before leaving Mass today, pause for a prayer of thanksgiving. Thank God for the ordinary gifts we so easily overlook: life, faith, family, and friends. Above all, thank Him for His greatest gift—His Son, whom we receive in the Eucharist. At this altar, Christ Himself draws near to heal us. No matter who we are or what we have done, He welcomes us and makes us whole.
Gratitude transforms the ordinary into blessings and blessings into joy. May we, like the healedSamaritan, return again and again to Jesus, fall at His feet, and with all our hearts say: ThankYou, Lord.
Yours in Christ,Fr. Peter -