Gratitude

Carmelite homily for Lectionary 493 | Wednesday, November 13, 2019

In today’s Gospel we have the well-known story of the ten lepers who come to Jesus for healing.  And he does it!  But only one returns.  And he asks, “Where are the other nine?”  Well, the other nine may say, “I didn’t ask for leprosy, why should I say thanks?  I didn’t do this to myself.”  Therese reminds us, though, “Prayer is a cry of gratitude and love in the midst of trial as well as in joy.”  That may be hard to remember, hard to implement, hard to do – just like the nine who wandered away.  But it is true, “Prayer is a cry of gratitude and love in the midst of trial as well as in joy.”  Let’s try to remember that.  

Gratitude of Heart

Carmelite homily for Lectionary 144 – Sunday, October 13, 2019

In her autobiography, Story of a Soul, Saint Therese talks about prayer.  She writes, “For me, prayer is an aspiration of the heart, an upward glance toward heaven; with gratitude and love in times of trial and of joy.”  Notice that there are no words to this description of prayer of hers.  In today’s Gospel, we have the lepers coming to Jesus but we have no words from them.  I think oftentimes prayer and gratitude and love aren’t words – they are just heart.  Let us be filled with heart today.