Message from Fr. Brito:

28th Sunday In Ordinary Time

The thyme of gratitude is woven throughout the readings today. The Syrian, Naaman, out of obedience, washes in the Jordan River seven times and is cured of his leprosy. In response to his being cured, he demonstrates his gratitude to God by pledging his alliance with the one true God of Israel and offering sacrifice to him in a continual offering of praise.

 

In the Gospel today, ten lepers are cured by Jesus and are sent on their way to fulfill the law. But only one returns in gratitude to give thanks to the one who cured his decease.  Every Sunday we who are afflicted by sin, a kind of leprosy of the soul, we have an opportunity each week to return and give thanks to him, who has cured our disease.

 

The Eucharist. itself, means thanksgiving. At every Eucharistic celebration we have been given an opportunity to offer thanksgiving to Jesus Christ. Have you ever wondered why it is such a grave sin to miss mass on a Sunday? One day I was reflecting on this and troubled by the fact that the Church considered missing mass to be a mortal sin.  I came to understand more deeply how offensive it was towards the Father in heaven, who loved the world so much that he sent his only son to save us from our leprosy; that is from our sin. His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, loved us so much that he died for us.  There is only one offering for sin that is beneficial to man that was acceptable by God. That offering happened on Calvary  thousands of years ago. It is through the mass that we are able to participate in that one glorious sacrifice. So on any given week that we decide not to attend mass, for no good reason, we are telling our Heavenly Father that we don’t care about what his Son sacrificed for us. “Sorry Lord, I had better things to do.” “Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine?”

Amen