28TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME: CROSSING BOUNDARIES TO GIVE THANKS

God Crosses Boundaries for Our Healing: The readings this Sunday reveal that God willingly crosses human boundaries to heal and restore. In both Naaman’s story and the healing of the ten lepers, God reaches across lines of nationality, sickness, and exclusion. Like the Good Shepherd, he seeks his sheep out to heal them. Jon Reddick’s song God Turn It Around captures this movement of God: “He is healing someone! He is saving someone! God is doing something! Right now! Right now!” This healing initiative always begins with God. But will we recognize it and respond with gratitude?

From Help to Thanks: A Journey of Faith: Fr. Michael Sparough, S.J., borrowing from Anne Lamott’s book Help, Thanks, Wow!, summarizes three essential prayers: a cry for help, an act of thanks, and a moment of awe. All ten lepers cried, “Help!” Only one crossed the next boundary of giving thanks afterward. This one leper, a Samaritan, was moved by awe and gratitude, not entitlement. He didn’t just get healed like the other nine—he was saved.

The Danger of Entitlement: The nine lepers walked away with physical healing but failed to grasp the deeper gift. Unfortunately, we live in a world filled with an entitlement mentality that blinds us to grace. When we think we deserve everything: health, food, safety, success, even salvation—we become ungrateful. We limit our spiritual growth when we reduce God’s gifts to transactions: “I pray, so God must bless me.” “I make donations to the church, so the priest must do my wish.” “I come to Mass, so I must receive Holy Communion.” We can be like the Pharisee, confident of our own righteousness, “The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get” (Lk. 189-13). This mindset prevents us from entering into a true relationship and crossing boundaries with God and worship.

Thanksgiving as a Spiritual Boundary Breaker: Thanksgiving is not just about polite manners. It is an act of faith that signals inner healing. A truly grateful soul is open to more blessings and a deeper relationship with God. Once you become aware that there is always something to be thankful for, healing begins. Gratitude liberates us from resentment. It opens our eyes to see God’s goodness not just in what we have, but in who we are. As Saint Augustine would say that our souls are restless until they rest in God, creatures made in God’s image.

The Eucharist: Our Ultimate Act of Thanksgiving: The Mass itself is a sacrifice of thanksgiving. Vinny Flynn reminds us in the book 21 Ways to Worship to make this personal: “When I hear the priest say, ‘Let us give thanks to the Lord our God,’ I respond… but I also say silently, ‘Yes, Lord… I thank You and praise You right now.’” When we truly see the Eucharist for what it is—a divine act of love, a sacrifice of thanksgiving, the Lord’s Supper, the gifting of Christ’s Body and Blood—we stop counting minutes and start counting blessings.

Gratitude Heals the Whole Person: Psychologists confirm that gratitude lowers blood pressure, improves sleep, boosts self-esteem, and enhances relationships. The thankful leper wasn’t just cured—he was healed in body, soul, and spirit. Those words from Jesus would make a huge change in him: “Your faith has healed you.” This is where he became different from the nine who went away with a sense of entitlement. Let us follow his lead, for we can also be made whole by thanksgiving.

Readings: 1st- 2 Kings 5:14–17; 2nd- 2 Timothy 2:8–13; Gospel- Luke 17:11–19

Reflection Questions

• Have I ever taken God’s blessings for granted? What can I do to become more intentionally grateful?

• Am I fully present and thankful when I attend Mass, or do I just go through the motions?

• What boundaries (pride, fear, selfishness) must I cross to live a life of deeper gratitude and healing?