During his general audience, Pope Francis reflected on the importance of gratitude in prayer. Jesus’ healing of the ten lepers is an example.
By the editor of Vatican News
Continuing his series of catechesis on prayer, Pope Francis, during his general audience this week, spoke about the importance of gratitude in prayer, which he said makes the world better and brings hope.
The ten lepers
As an example of this, he took the episode of healing the ten lepers in the Gospel of Luke. The ten suffered not only physically, but also from social and religious marginalization. “But Jesus did not give up on serving them. Sometimes, He overcame the limits imposed by the law and touched, embraced and healed the sick. However, in this case, there was no contact ”:
He heard their prayer, their cry for mercy, and sent them to the law-appointed priests to certify their healing and readmit them to normal life. But on the way, when they were healed, only one returned to thank Jesus and praise God before proceeding with the priests. This man was a Samaritan, a kind of “heretic” of the Jews of the time. And Jesus comments: “Nobody came back and praised God but this foreigner?” (17:18).
Grace precedes thanksgiving
This episode, said the Pope, “divides the world in two: those who do not thank and those who do; those who take everything as if it were due, and those who accept everything as a gift, as a grace ”. The Catechism says: “Every event and need can become a thanksgiving offering”. For this reason, said the Pope, the prayer of thanksgiving always begins by recognizing that “grace precedes us”. “We think about ourselves before we learn to think; we were loved before we learned to love; we were wanted before our hearts conceived a desire. “” If we look at life that way, “he pointed out,” then ‘thank you’ becomes the driving force of our day. ”
Gift of life
Pope Francis then explained that the word “Eucharist”, the most essential Sacrament, derives from the Greek word, which means thanksgiving. And Christians, like all believers, bless God for the gift of life. “We were all born because someone wanted us to have life. And this is only the first in a long series of debts that we incurred in living. Debts of gratitude. “After God, educators, catechists and others” looked at us with pure eyes and performed their roles above and beyond what was required of them. They provoked us to be grateful. Even friendship is a gift for which we should always be grateful. “
Love breeds gratitude
Continuing his catechesis, the Pope said that this “gratitude” grows in the encounter with Jesus. Jesus often brought joy and praise to God in those he met. We too are called to participate in this immense joy, as indicated by the episode of the ten lepers. They were happy to have recovered their health, which allowed them to “end that endless forced quarantine that excluded them from the community”.
The joy of meeting Jesus
However, only one of them experiences an “additional joy” in their healing. “He is happy to find Jesus. He is now sure to be loved. ”And this is the crux of the matter. It is the discovery of love as a force that governs the world, said the Pope, quoting Italian poet Dante. For Christians, said the Pope, “this means that we have a house, we live in Christ and from that ‘home’ we contemplate the rest of the world that seems to us infinitely more beautiful.
The Holy Father thus urged Christians to seek to remain always in the joy of meeting Jesus, never forgetting to thank them. “If we are bearers of gratitude,” he said, “the world itself will become better, if only a little, but that is enough to convey a little hope.” “Everything is united and connected, and everyone needs to do their part wherever we are.”