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Gospel Reading for November 11, 2026 – Luke 17: 11-19
DEEP SENSE OF GRATITUDE
As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem, he traveled through Samaria and Galilee. As he was entering a village, ten lepers met him. They stood at a distance from him and raised their voice, saying, “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!” And when he saw them, he said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” As they were going they were cleansed. And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. He was a Samaritan. Jesus said in reply, “Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?”Then he said to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you.”
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There was a Samaritan among the lepers, and Samaritans and Jews were enemies. But Jesus did not discriminate against anyone when it came to healing them.
Of the ten lepers, only the Samaritan came back to thank Jesus. The others, who were Jews, perhaps took their healing for granted or simply failed to recognize the need to express their gratitude. After all, the healer was also a Jew. Perhaps the Samaritan’s feeling of unworthiness made him especially grateful to Jesus for healing him despite being an outsider.
We Christians should never take for granted the blessings we receive from God each day. We need to develop a DEEP SENSE OF GRATITUDE, recognizing that although we do not deserve God’s love, he never fails to shower us with his blessings every day.
When we develop this sense of gratitude, we will also feel compelled to share our blessings with others, especially those in need. In doing so, we fulfill one of the basic teachings of Jesus: to love our neighbors as ourselves.
Lord God, thank you for all the blessings you give us each day. May we learn to share them with others, especially those in need. Amen.
