Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)
The Ten Lepers. Luke 17:12-19. Sunday December 8, 2024
Today’s Gospel helps us reorient our focus in this time of year. Amidst all of the busyness that comes at this time of year— December becomes intensely hectic with all sorts of holiday gatherings— we are in great need of this reorientation. Today’s Gospel reminds us of something all important— the need to give thanks.
Today’s Gospel highlights how easy it is to forget the good things God has done for us. The ten lepers were suffering from a terrible disease, that at the time had no cure. We now know leprosy is caused by a bacteria, and we can treat it with antibiotics. What they did understand is that it can spread, and in frightening ways. As a result, those with leprosy— and any skin disease of this type— were required to become outcasts. So they not only suffered from the physical pain, but the pain of being outcasts as well. And yet when they found that they were healed by Christ, who did not avoid them but granted them healing, only one returned to glorify God and to give thanks. Gratitude is so easy to over-look, but it is so closely linked to praising God. In this Gospel reading we see three closely related types of prayer. First, the lepers cry out with a pray of supplication, when they say “Lord have mercy.” Then the one who returned praises and glorifies God for his healing, as he returns and gives thanks to Christ. In turn, Christ commends him for his faith, which has made him well. See how these are all connected— prayer is about more than supplication. Yes, we often begin with asking for mercy, with asking for specific needs. But we must go beyond supplication and glorify God, giving him praise, as we thank God for the gifts and healing he grants us.
We recently celebrated our great national holiday of giving thanks, and Thanksgiving is such an important reminder of why we should give thanks. We should not overlook that each and every Divine Liturgy is about giving thanks. The very word Eucharist means to give thanks. How do the the anaphora prayers (the prayers that start after the Creed) begin? Let us give thanks unto the Lord. The priest then continues by saying:
It is meet and right to hymn Thee, to bless Thee, to give thanks to Thee, and to worship
Thee in every place of Thy dominion: for Thou art God ineffable, inconceivable, invisible, in-
comprehensible, ever-existing and eternally the same.
We see in these prayers how giving thanks and praising God go hand in hand. We give thanks and we worship. The anaphora prayers then recount the whole history of our salvation, how God has given us life and returned us to him when we had gone astray; how God has given us his Only-Begotten Son, so that we not perish but have everlasting life. Christ gives us his body and blood for the remission of our sins and for the life of the world. And how do these prayers conclude? The choir sings:
We praise Thee, we bless Thee, we give thanks unto Thee, O Lord; and we pray
unto Thee, O our God.
We give thanks unto Thee— these are the words we offer to God at each liturgy, praising and worshipping God for granting us the remission of our sins, the communion of the Holy Spirit, and the fulfillment of the Kingdom of Heaven. Because in the Divine Liturgy we are already partaking here and now in the Banquet of the Heavenly Kingdom. The Doors of Paradise are opened to us, and Christ is present with us, as if at a wedding feast. What characterizes the Divine Liturgy is this exceeding great joy— especially liturgy on a Sunday, when we always sings hymns of the Resurrection, when we do not kneel or prostrate, but stand with joy as we partake of the heavenly banquet of our Risen Savior.
St. Paul likewise instructs us in how joy and thanksgiving are linked. At the conclusion of the first epistle to the Thessalonians, St. Paul gives us words that we should all committ to memory: Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). Three commands— rejoice, pray, give thanks. And with each commend, we are told to do these things continually, and in every situation. I urge you to memorize these short verses, for in them are simple but direct guides to spiritual growth. Note also how these three are linked, as in the example of the leper who returned to give thanks: prayer and rejoicing and giving thanks are interconnected. Giving thanks is a form of prayer; again, prayer is more than just asking for things; it is also about rejoicing, praising and worshipping God for the gifts He has given us. St. Paul also urges us to do these things always, without ceasing, and for everything; in other words, we are to rejoice and give thanks even when we may not feel like it. There are many times when we may not feel like praying. Yet that is why we have a discipline of praying at certain times, to help us to turn to God in prayer, to create a habit of prayer. The same is true for rejoicing and giving thanks. Just as establishing a habit of prayer takes effort and intentionality, so too must we strive to rejoice always. We may not feel like it; we may be in a sour or melancholic mood, feeling depondent or frustrated; but it is precisely at these moments when we should strive to give thanks. Gratitude drives out despondency; when we give thanks to God, thanking Him for even the small things, then we can learn to rejoice always.
One of the contemporary elders and teachers of the spiritual life, Archimandrite Aimilianos of Simonopetra monastery on Mt. Athos, who only recently passed away has much to say about how rejoicing with joy is part of prayer And if you have a chance, read the works of Elder Aimilianos— they exude wisdom. He says the role of joy in pray: “it is necesary that we should be joyful. When we become accustomed to pray, the joy of Christ is granted to us, along with much else” (The Prayer of the Holy Mountain p. 55). He then recounts the life of a saint who was joyful in conversation, and in his interactions with others always had a bright smile, and the whole of him radiated with grace. It is all too easy to become depressed and despair, especially when seeing all the tensions and civil strive, all the conflicts and wars engulfing the world today. Through prayer and thanksgiving, we must rejoice always, as St. Paul says, even in dark times. By doing so, by struggling to pray and rejoice, we can become sources of light and joy. I know that I continue to struggle with this; you shouldn’t think that when I stand here giving words of instruction, it means that I have acquired these virtues. Far from it— when I write my homilies, it is itself a spiritual exercise, as I work out what the Gospel is teaching us and how I should be applying it more in my own life. The draw of despondency is strong; but the antitode is giving thanks, and as St. Paul says, to rejoice always, especially in dark times and in moments of despondency.
We find this call to be joyful in the traditional carols sung during this time of year. Consider one of the traditional English carols, Joy to the World. This hymn is based on Psalm 98, where the Psalmist declares “make a joyful noise unto the lord” because the Lord has made known his salvation. All too often advertisements would lead us to believe that the joy of this season comes from getting what we wanted, receiving the latest hot item. But consider again the words of the carol: Joy the World — the Lord is come! Christ comes, and that is why there is joy.
The next two Sundays bring us closer to the birth of Christ, with their focus on the Ancestors and Forefathers of Christ, those who were in the geneaology of Christ and those prophets who foretold his coming. As we draw closer to the celebration of the Christ’s birth, let us reorient our focus. The Joy of the season is because the Lord is come. Today’s Gospel reminds us of the need to give thanks and praise God for his blessings. Let us hold fast to St. Paul’s words: even in dark and trying times, let us rejoice always, and be filled with joy in the Risen Lord; let us grow in our prayer, so that it may become unceasing prayer. In every situation, at all times, let us be like the leper who returned to Christ after his healing, and like him let us give thanks to God for his great love and mercy.