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By Fr. Roy Cimagala *
THAT gospel episode about 10 lepers who begged Christ to cure them teaches us the lesson that we should always go to God especially when we find ourselves in difficulties. It also reminds us that we should always be thankful to him because he always cares for us. (cfr. Lk 17,11-19) These two attitudes should be kind of instinctive to us.
We have to learn how to deal with the difficult and the impossible things in our life. Let’s remember that as long as we are here on earth, we have to contend with all sorts of difficulties, trials and temptations.
And as if these are not enough, we also have to contend with the truth of our faith that tells us that we are meant to pursue a supernatural goal that definitely cannot be achieved simply with our own human powers alone, no matter how excellent they are.
The secret is always to go and to be with God through Christ in the Holy Spirit who can make the impossible possible. In all our affairs and situations in life, we should always go to God to ask for his help and guidance, and to trust his ways and his providence, even our prayers and petitions appear unanswered, if not, contradicted.
This should be the attitude to have. It’s an attitude that can only indicate our unconditional faith and love for God who is always in control of things, and at the same time can also leave us in peace and joy even at the worst of the possibilities.
We just have to remember that Christ never abandons us and is, in fact, all ready and prompt to come to our aid, albeit in ways that we may not realize, at first, just like what happened in that story of the two disciples who were on their way to Emmaus. (cfr. Lk 24,13-25)
We should not allow our feelings of sadness to be so dominant and pervasive that we shut off Christ’s many and often mysterious ways of helping us. If we do not pose a deliberate impediment to Christ’s ways, there is always hope. In our darkest moments, some light will always come piercing and dispelling the darkness away.
At the same time, we should always keep in mind that we need to be thankful to God for whatever gift, blessing and favor he gives. We have to be wary of our tendency to take this duty for granted. As shown in that gospel about the 10 lepers who were cured, only one came to thank Christ who showed concern that the other nine did not bother to thank him.
We need to do everything to cultivate this abiding mentality of thanksgiving. We have to deliberately do this task, given the desensitizing effect of the flurry of activities and other concerns our modern world is bombarding us with.
Gratitude forms an essential part of our relation with God. It is the adequate response we give upon seeing the continuous attention and care God gives us. It makes us stick to the reality of our life. It keeps us from inventing a world unhinged from its Creator and from others.
When we are thankful, we open our heart to the workings of grace and the innate goodness that comes with our nature, at least that part that is still unaffected by sin. In a way, gratitude is a main language of the heart. It’s a major expression of love.
* Chaplain Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City
Email: roycimagala@gmail.com
