Spiritual Food in Quarantine

Ten lepers asked Jesus for mercy. He told them to show themselves to the priest. As they were going, they were cleansed. Only one turned back to give thanks. Jesus told him his faith made him well. Only a priest could declare a person cleansed. By obeying Jesus, the lepers acted in faith. They didn’t wait to see their condition improve but believed they’d be healed on the way. Yet only the thankful one received the pronouncement that his faith has saved him. This tells us that if we have faith to be healed but don’t have a love for God expressed in thanksgiving, it amounts to nothing. It is a thankful heart that makes our faith complete. As a Eucharistic people, let us make sure that from the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord is praised by our constant giving of thanks. Though the fig tree does not blossom, and there is no fruit on the vines, and the yield of the olive fails, and the fields produce no food, and there are no sheep in the fold nor cattle in the stalls, and there is a global pandemic, an economic crisis and worldwide despair, let us give thanks to the Lord for He is good and His love endures forever.