Redeeming the Lost Original Thanksgiving

This year, for the first time in history, Thanksgiving and Chanukah coincides. What a rare occasion it is,  indeed!

Both Thanksgiving and Chanukah are about giving thanks to God for freedom. The former celebrates religious and political freedom in the New World, North America, away from persecution in Europe in 1620. The latter celebrates the religious freedom and political sovereignty of the Jews, redeemed from the Greek in 166 BC.

When the Pilgrims first celebrated Thanksgiving, they did not have much. Neither the Jews when they fought back for Jerusalem from the Greek invaders. But, both Pilgrims and the Jews were grateful for whatever they had with them respectively – though it was not much at all.

When the Jews redeemed Jerusalem, they only had a scant amount of oil left. It was barely to light a candelabrum for just one day. But, the it kept burning for eight day miraculously. Because of this, during Chanukah, the Jews light eight candles of the menorah one candle per day every night during this 8-day celebration, taking the light candle fire from the shammash.

The spirit of Chanukah teaches that merciful God provide us just enough – no matter how little what we have may seem. Not only that, it also reminds us that what God provides is enough to share, given how a small candle light of the shammash can be distributed to eight candles of the menorah, while burning for 8 days. 

To Christians, this miracle story behind the Chanukah menorah invokes the miracle of Jesus feeding the hungry multitude, about 5,500 men plus women and children,  out of only 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. Just as the scant amount of oil left only to burn a candle for a day when the Jews redeemed Jerusalem from the Greeks, what Jesus and his disciples had was a tiny amount of food, barely to feed themselves. But, as the oil kept burning way longer than how long the Jews had thought, the small amount of bread and fish were able to be distributed to and satisfy the everybody in the hungry crowd. And, there still were some leftovers to fill up 12 baskets (Luke 9:10-17; Matthew 14:13-21; Mark 6:32-44; John 6:5-13).

I am sure the Jews were anxious about the amount of oil they had because keeping the candle burning is very important to them. They were  are not supposed to run out of the oil for burning candles. But, God sure provided enough. And, they are always thankful to God for His care. 

Likewise, though what Jesus and his disciples were able to find was a very small amount of food, Jesus nevertheless gave thanks and broke them for distribution (i.e. Luke 9:16).

There is a sense of appreciation for whatever they had in these stories – the story about the oil upon the redemption of Jerusalem in 166 BC and Jesus feeding the hungry multitude. 

Neither the  Jews nor Jesus asked for more – even though what they had did not appear to be enough to meet their needs. They just thanked God and trusted God’s care. And, their needs were met. 

When the Pilgrim came to the Plymouth Rock in New England, still a land of the Native Americans, after a harsh voyage across the stormy cold Atlantic Ocean in 1620, in search of freedom from religious persecution in Europe, they barely had anything to eat. They were on the verge of starvation to death. But, it was the Native Americans in New England, who responded with compassion to these starving new comers, and invited them to their traditional thanksgiving festival. Because of this, the Pilgrim did not perish and were able to find themselves in the freedom they had longed for. And, they gave thanks to God for this. Truly, God’s mercy worked through the compassion of the Native Americans. 

  "Pilgrims Landing" by Edward Percy Moran

Being pious Christians, I am sure, that the Pilgrim did not ask God for more. They were just so grateful for having their lives spared and being provided with means to survive in their newly found land by the Native Americans.  But, as time went by, the Pilgrim seemed to have lost their original sense of gratitude, soon gave it to greed, given how American history has turned. 

The way Thanksgiving has been celebrated in the United States hardly recalls how compassionate and kind the Native Americans were in saving the lives of the starving Pilgrims by sharing their harvests, similar to how Jesus fed the hungry multitude by sharing what he found. It seems as if the way Thanksgiving has been in the US is all about the Pilgrim and their “God”.  In other words, the Thanksgiving in the US reminds how the Pilgrims have “hijacked” the Native American tradition of giving thanks for the harvest and ignored how God’s mercy worked through the compassion of the Native Americans. 

To keep the American Thanksgiving authentic, the celebration must honor the Native Americans, who saved the starving Pilgrim. If possible, it is more authentic to be hosted by a Native American tribal elder or chief, as the very first Thanksgiving festival was. But, how often do we encounter real American Thanksgiving celebrations hosted by full-blooded Native Americans?

Have you thought what happened to the original Thanksgiving that the Pilgrims were so grateful for?    

Not only the Pilgrims returned their “thanks” for the Native Americans’ life-saving kind favor by robbing their lands and lives but also by “plagiarizing “ the Native American tradition by making it as if theirs. What is further worse is that the American Thanksgiving in modern years even makes a misleading impression – as if it were the Pilgrim who fed hungry Native Americans. 

                                         The First Thanksgiving"  by Jean Louis Gerome Ferris

It is important to reflect the lost tradition of the original American Thanksgiving and how the hypocrisy of the Pilgrims, as well as their descendants, have twisted this tradition as it has been in recent years. 

*****

The way Thanksgiving has been observed in the United States reflects how our sense of gratitude often fails and easily gives its way to greed. From a psychospiritual perspective, this is due to a lack of discipline to keep our sense of gratitude. 

In a way, this is how psychological conditioning – adaptation works. Once we become so used to – become accustomed to – become conditioned to a satisfactory condition, our sense of gratitude tends to become dull. To prevent this tendency, we need conscious efforts to maintain our sense of gratitude.

Once we become comfortable, there is always danger of losing our sense of gratitude. It is when we begin to lose a sense of poverty, which also spiritually symbolizes humility.  Throughout the Gospels, the rich are figuratively portrayed as the arrogant, who underestimate God’s power (i.e. Luke 16:19-31) and are less appreciative of God’s mercy, while the poor are humble and totally trust God (i.e.  Luke 20:45-21:4). 

Indeed, Jesus said, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God”(Luke 6:20). And, in Matthew’s Gospel, what corresponds to this is, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven(Matthew 5:3). And, St. Chrysostom and St. Leo the Great have explained that “the poor in spirit” means humility. Thus, in Jesus’ teaching, the humility is figuratively expressed as poverty.

Jesus made it clear figuratively with these words that material richness keeps us from salvation because it means a loss of humility: “And Jesus said to His disciples, "Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God”(Matthew 19:23-24). 

To put this in a Buddhist term, the poverty in Jesus’ teaching means having no attachment. No attachment also means no greed, indicating spiritual discipline to control desire. 

Now, where in today’s Thanksgiving is the sense of humility that the Pilgrims may have exhibited when they were saved by the Native Americans, upon coming to Plymouth Rock, starving? 

Today, Thanksgiving in America is being hijacked by commercialism – reflecting greed bred out of material saturation. 

There has been far more material wealth concentrated in the United States than any other nations on earth. For instance, if you see how material wealth is distributed in the world, you notice that there is far more material wealth concentrated on in the United States than any other nations. And, the Americans are not yet satisfied – though they are far fare better off than those in other parts of the world. And, the way American Thanksgiving has been reflects this.

On Thanksgiving Day, many Americans eat far more than they need. After filling their stomach more than full, they fill their garbage bags with still-edible leftover food from Thanksgiving meal. Then, it’s about shopping and shopping.

Until recent years, at least, stores were closed on Thanksgiving to observe the spirit of the holiday. But, it is now gone as more and more stores are open even on Thanksgiving day – and more and more Americans go shopping on Thanksgiving day fanatically. 

So, where is our humble reflection of the original Thanksgiving that the Pilgrims were invited by the Native Americans? 

It is gone and replaced by gluttony and the fanaticizing commercialism, phenomenon of the lost humility, hijacked by uncontrollable greed.  This is what is behind the killing among Thanksgiving Day and Post-Thanksgiving (Black Friday) shopping frenzy. 

If you are authentic Christian – if you are truly spiritual, valuing humility and despise greed and gluttony, honors the spirit of gratefulness in the original American Thanksgiving festival, to which the starving Pilgrims were invited, then, you rather find Thanksgiving as a holiday of frugality to show your humility and gratefulness to God. And, you do everything you can to keep Thanksgiving from greed and gluttony as you exercise your spiritual disciplines and control your desire – perhaps as St. Ignatius of Loyola did with Suscipe:

Receive, O Lord, all my liberty. Take my memory, my understanding, and my entire will. Whatsoever I have or hold, You have given me; I give it all back to You and surrender it wholly to be governed by your will. Give me only your love and your grace, and I am rich enough and ask for nothing more.   Spiritual Exercises 234.

Before St. Ignatius pray with these words for the spiritual disciplines through the Spiritual Exercises, St. Paul put these words upon heeding the words of Jesus:

And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.  (2 Corinthians 12:9)

 St. Paul shows with these words that how important the poverty (weakness) is as it is humility, in which the power of Christ is perfected through his grace. And, grace poured upon us suffices, desiring no more, while thanking God for the grace – unconditional gift that He has provided. 

This is the bottom line of beatitude – the blessedness, as Jesus reflected in Matthew 5:3-12 and Luke 6:20-22.

The spirit of the original American Thanksgiving is about being thankful for what we have – no matter how much we have or how little we have. The last thing we want on this day is to want more and to have more, desiring what we don’t have. 

So, why do we have to stimulate our weakness of greed for eating far more than the stomach can handle and keeping stores open, with crazy sales campaign? 

Psychologically, such phenomena of material cravings are indication of insecurity. It means a fragility of ego due to being unable to trust God and His providence….not being able to be like the poor widow who offered all she had to God (Luke 20:45-21:4 ) and the poor widow who trusted God’s servant, Elijah, and offered everything she had ( 1 Kings 17:7-16). But, through our spiritual disciplines, we can fight against our tendency of craving and material attachment. It means boosting our trust in God and His mercy on us. Then, we are not so worried about how much we have. Rather, our sense of gratitude grows more, recognizing even small thing to be thankful for, being able to embrace the poverty as the virtue of humility. 

As this Thanksgiving coincides with the first day of Chanukah, let us begin our spiritual battle against greed and material attachment in order to redeem the lost original American Thanksgiving – as the Jews, led by Judas Maccabeus heroism, redeemed Jerusalem from the Greek intruders. 

The first reading for Thanksgiving Day Mass (in the US) calls us to redeem the humility and gratitude in the original Thanksgiving:

And now, bless the God of all,
who has done wondrous things on earth;
Who fosters people’s growth from their mother’s womb,
and fashions them according to his will!
May he grant you joy of heart
and may peace abide among you;
May his goodness toward us endure in Israel
to deliver us in our days. (Sirach 50:22-24)

As the Native Americans thanked the Creator who provide their harvests, we thank God, who is the Creator and provides for us with what we need. And, it is enough as it sustains us.

Let us not allow greed and attachment to cloud our sense of humility and gratitude. Otherwise, we would become the lepers, who never thanked Jesus even though he healed them, in the Thanksgiving Day Gospel reading (Luke 17:11-19).  As we keep fighting the spiritual intruders, such as greed and attachment, we can keep our sense of gratitude and humility, always express our thanks to God, as the thankful leper did in the Gospel story. 

As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem,
he traveled through Samaria and Galilee.
As he was entering a village, ten persons with leprosy met him.
They stood at a distance from him and raised their voices, 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.” (Luke 17:11-19)

As we let our sense of gratitude and humility give its way to greed and attachment, not only we will become like the nine lepers, who never thanked in the above Gospel story, but also become like the Pilgrims, who robbed the lands and lives of the Native Americans, who saved their lives and invited to their humble Thanksgiving festival.

In Sirach 51:1-12, there is a canticle of thanksgiving. And, it is rather suitable to appreciate the humble spirit of gratitude to mark true Thanksgiving:

I give you thanks, O Lord and King;
    I praise you as my God and Savior.
I give you thanks,
   for you have helped me and protected me.
You have rescued me from death,
    from dangerous lies and slander.
You helped me when no one else would;
    in your great mercy you saved me
    from the many troubles I have known:
from the glaring hatred of my enemies,
    who wanted to put an end to my life;
⁴ from suffocation in oppressive smoke
    rising from fires that I did not light;
from death itself;
    from vicious slander reported to the king.
I was once brought face-to-face with death;
 enemies surrounded me everywhere.
I looked for someone to help me,
    but there was no one there.
But then, O Lord, I remembered how merciful you are
    and what you had done in times past.
I remembered that you rescue those who rely on you,
    that you save them from their enemies.
Then from here on earth I prayed to you
    to rescue me from death.
I prayed,
        O Lord, you are my father;
    do not abandon me to my troubles
    when I am helpless against arrogant enemies.

I will always praise you
    and sing hymns of thanksgiving.
        You answered my prayer,
 and saved me from the threat of destruction.
And so I thank you and praise you.
    O Lord, I praise you!

Though the Book of Sirach in the Old Testament ends here, the original Hebrew text contains the below praises, following the above:

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever;

Give thanks to the God of glory, for his mercy endures forever;

Give thanks to the guardian of Israel, for his mercy endures forever;

Give thanks to the creator of the universe, for his mercy endures forever;

Give thanks to the redeemer of Israel, for his mercy endures forever;

Give thanks to him who gathers the dispersed of Israel, for his mercy endures forever;

Give thanks to him who builds his city and his sanctuary, for his mercy endures forever;

Give thanks to him who makes a horn to sprout forth, for the house of David, for his mercy endures forever;

Give thanks to him who has chosen for his priests the sons of Zadok, for his mercy endures forever;

Give thanks to the shield of Abraham, for his mercy endures forever;

Give thanks to the rock of Isaac, for his mercy endures forever;

Given thanks to the mighty one of Jacob, for his mercy endures forever;

Give thanks to him who has chosen Zion, for his mercy endures forever;

Give thanks to the king over kings of kings, for his mercy endures forever;

He has lifted up the horn of his people, be this his praise from all his faithful ones.

From the children of Israel, the people close to him. Alleluia! 

May we redeem the lost original Thanksgiving from greed, gluttony, and other forms of attachment, as Judas Maccabeus redeemed Jerusalem from the Greeks, by keeping up with our spiritual disciplines and keeping our thanks and praises to God.

Gratitude, Utang ng Loob, Giri Ninjou, Psychospiritual Health, and Salvation - Reflection of the Gospel Narrative for the 28th Sunday Year C

We all want to be happy. In particular, Christians desire salvation. 

Atheists may think that they can attain happiness through their own efforts, not needing God. But, Christians believe that we cannot be truly happy without God’s grace and mercy, as we cannot be saved without God’s such care. We humbly understand that we cannot save ourselves – no matter how hard we work and no matter how pious we may be. To Christians, it is an ego-driven illusion to believe that our efforts alone are all needed to save ourselves. Such a belief totally ignore or discount grace and mercy of God. 

Buddhists, especially those in the Japanese Shin Buddhism, also share a similar belief that we cannot be saved by our own efforts along but with the immeasurable light of Amitabha Buddha’s mercy. This Buddhist concept is called “Tariki Hongan” in Japanese Buddhism term, meaning that we, the bompu (ordinary people with problems of kleshas) are saved Amitabha Buddha’s salvific desire. Just as Christians believe that God’s mercy is necessary to be saved, no matter how diligent and pious we maybe, Buddhists believe that Amitabha Buddha’s mercy is necessary to be saved. This acknowledgement of our need for mercy of greater being, such as Christ or Amitabha Buddha, also leads us to humility.

Both Christianity and Buddhism teach us that our own efforts alone cannot make us truly happy as these alone cannot save us. No matter how wise we, the humans, may become, and no matter how diligent we work with our advanced wisdom and knowledge, we still cannot attain truly meaningful life, peace, and contentedness. 

Human wisdom, knowledge, and our own work alone will only get us to increase our desire more and more, thus, resulting in more dissatisfaction and frustration, because our desire outgrows our satisfaction. And, this was the problem that Bro. Leo had, as I explained in my last blog entry, “St. Francis as a Morita Therapy Practitioner – A Case Study of Bro. Leo”(10/13/13). Because of his ignorance (one of the Three Poisons in Buddhist teaching) to the truth in our need for God’s grace and mercy in attaining our goals and satisfying our desires, Bro. Leo locked himself in his attachment to the ego, resulting in his frustration and depression. In response, St. Francis guided him to realize that he needs God’s grace and mercy in order to attain what he was seeking happily, along with his efforts and fidelity. And, this awakening led Bro. Leo to alleviation of his psychospiritual distress. 

Think about the reality of the 21^st highly advanced health care system today. Medicine as a science is far better from what it was 20 years ago, even a decade ago. It is true that more and more patients, who could have been dead, are now able to live, because of the advance in medicine. Far more past incurable diseases are now curable. But, we still have many diseases and illnesses that cannot be cured with the highly advanced medicine. And, ironically, today’s advanced health care has brought new unprecedented challenges, such as new difficult infectious diseases due to overuse of antibiotics. Such diseases can be very grave. This is just one aspect to humbly acknowledge that human wisdom, knowledge, and efforts alone cannot bring complete happiness and salvation. It is a reminder that we do need a help from God. Along with our wisdom, knowledge and diligent efforts, as well as our faith, we do need God’s grace and mercy in order for salvation, which literally means the fullness (restoration or redemption of the fullness).  That is why a good health care system always comes with compassionate and competent a pastoral and spiritual care program.

With this acknowledgement, it is helpful to read and reflect the Gospel story for the 28^th Sunday Year C – Luke 17: 11-19.The Gospel story begins with a story about ten lepers, who were desperately begging mercy of Jesus, as he was their last hope. In biblical context, leprosy means hopelessness, because it was an incurable and untreatable disease at that time. Even the top doctor, with all his wisdom, knowledge, and skills, could not cure this disease. So, these ten lepers had to place their last hope on Jesus. Otherwise, these lepers could have been perished already in irreversible despair before knowing Jesus’ coming – if they had nothing to hope for, beyond doctor’s care and all human wisdom. 

The lepers were also outcast, totally cut-off from the rest of the world. Nobody dared to even think of talk to them as they were afraid of getting infected with this incurable disease. They were hopelessly waiting to die in despair, along with agony in all the painful symptoms. No doctor can do anything. Not to mention, they cannot heal themselves.

This aspect of the lepers is actually a metaphor to ordinary people, us, in the Christian theological context. We, as sinners, have our own faults and shortcomings – problems and struggles, no matter how hard we work and pray – no matter how faithful we think we are. Even we have received the Sacrament of Baptism and the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the mark of the Original Sin remains. Thus, we carry the disposition to sin and sin again. In a way, we go through a vicious cycle of sin and absolution through the Sacrament of Reconciliation until the Lord calls us for the judgement. This aspect of Christianity is similar to Buddhist teaching of reincarnation, which is a vicious cycle of birth and rebirth with suffering through the six realms – hell, hunger, animality, anger, humanity, and heaven, until attaining Nirvana, breaking free from the wheel of samsara, the vicious cycle of reincarnation, upon attaining the status of Bodhi with enlightenment and the status of Buddha with awakening.

In Christian belief, until our souls is completely purified in purgatory, ordinally sinners may not rest in the Kingdom of God, heaven.  Similarly, in Buddhist belief, until we, the bompu, the ordinally people with kleshas, resolve ego and overcome kleshas, and attaining the Nirvana and Buddhahood by awakening to the Dharma truth.  Whether it is the Kingdom of God or Nirvana, attaining this ultimate freedom from any influence of sin or kleshas is our soteriological goal. Thus, entering into the Kingdom for Christians or into the state of Nirvana for Buddhists is the salvation, the attaining the fullness and freedom. Until we reach the Kingdom or the state of Nirvana, we continue to struggle with “indelible” or “incurable” influence of sinful disposition or kleshas, either of which can bring suffering. And, human wisdom and intervention alone cannot solve this problem. Only the salvific mercy of God or the merciful light of Amitabha Buddha can resolve this problem with cyclical nature. Thus, in this regard, we, the sinners and bompus, are all like the lepers in the Gospel story, needing grace and mercy of the greater being, God the Christ or Amitabha Buddha. 

In seeking and begging God’s mercy, some “faithful” and “pious” people become angry at God to a point of breaking away from God in resentfulness, because they feel that their faithful efforts are not rewarded at all. Sounds familiar? 

Even though they do not necessarily distance themselves from God, some of those who are disappointed about their efforts and faith, may sink into despair, like Bro. Leo.

In my last blog entry, “St. Francis as a Morita Therapy Practitioner – A Case Study of Bro. Leo”(10/13/13), I described that Bro. Leo’s depression was due to his narcissism-driven ignorance of the truth through some clinical and pastoral perspectives, drawing upon psychology and theology. And the truth that Bro. Leo was not aware of was that he cannot attain his goal: the purity of heart through his efforts and fidelity alone as these will not bear fruits unless we humbly open ourselves to the Lord’s grace and mercy, while finding our true identity in the fullness of Christ. 

Bro. Leo was depressed because his efforts to attain his goal: the purity of heart only put him deeper in his psychospiritual distress. And, what was behind this was Bro. Leo’s mistaken thinking that his own efforts and fidelity were what he needs to attain his goal: the purity of heart for his salvation. The problem with this was that Bro. Leo was not aware of the truth that no efforts of our own are truly helpful unless we gratefully accept Christ the Lord as our brother, friend, and savior – unless we find our true self in Christ, receiving His grace and mercy with joy and gratitude.  According to St. Francis, this is how we attain the purity of heart, as Christ, the one we find our identity in, seeking His grace and mercy, is the ultimate pure of heart. 

But, those who are not aware of this may experience frustration as Bro. Leo did, finding their own efforts only to make their lives more miserable. 

One contributing factor for Bro. Leo’s suffering was his unawareness of his need of Christ’s mercy. It was what St. Francis guided Bro. Leo toward in order to liberate him from his psychospiritual distress. 

Speaking of unawareness, it can also lead us to become indifferent to gratitude, like the nine lepers, who did not express their gratitude to Jesus in the Gospel story. Such persons may become aware of their own needs, such as needs of healing, and express their needs, as the lepers in the Gospel story begged. But, they are not sensitive enough to have a sense of gratitude for what they receive. 

In healthy interpersonal exchanges and relationships, it is not all about asking and receiving but also giving and giving back. We must be sensitive not only to our own needs but also what others need. When we receive, we must be sensitive enough to give something back – at least, to give thanks. 

In the Philippines, there is this concept called “utang-na-loob”, which literally means “debt to the inner self”, and, in Japan, there is this concept called “giri ninjou”(義理人情), which literally means “duty and compassion”.  These Asian concepts are about what we are expected to do upon receiving. Both of these teach us the virtue of returning favors. 

As long as we practice these virtues of returning favor, the circles of good wills will not be broken. And, in doing so, we are not to return favors as obligations but out of willingness and with joy. This is what is expected on us, as the Gospel story indicates. 

In the Gospel narrative, Jesus healed ten lepers on his way to Jerusalem from Galilee.  These lepers were pleading to Jesus from a distance. “Ἰησοῦ  (iesou…Jesus), ἐπιστάτα (epistata…master), ἐλέησον (eleeson…have mercy on) ἡμᾶς (hemas…us)” (Luke 17:13).  In the time of Jesus, lepers were outcast and the untouchable.  They were to die in isolation. But, when they learned about Jesus, the lepers were putting their last hope on Jesus as they must have heard about his healing power.  Their very last resort was the ἔλεος (eleos…mercy, compassion) of Jesus.  And, they got what they hoped for as Jesus healed them all, as “eleos” of Christ is the only hope for the hopeless.  But, out of these ten lepers, who were healed by Jesus, only one, a Samarian leper, came back to Jesus and thanked him, while the other nine lepers never thanked him. 

In terms of salvation, aren’t we all like the lepers, who were begging the “eleos” of Christ, crying, Ἰησοῦ  (iesou…Jesus), ἐπιστάτα (epistata…master), ἐλέησον (eleeson…have mercy on) ἡμᾶς (hemas…us)”, because we always plead, Κύριε, ἐλέησον”(Kyrie Eleison!...Lord have mercy!), at every Mass.  Whenever we make a plea, “Kyrie Eleison”, we are also humbly acknowledging that we need the Lord’s mercy because we cannot save ourselves, no matter how much effort we make and how pious we may be. In Catholicism, salvation is like “Tariki Hongan” (enlightenment through the mercy of Amitabha Buddha) of Japanese Shin Buddhism, possible only though the mercy of Christ the Lord.  Thus, in order to be saved, we are all like the ten lepers in need of healing, pleading for mercy. 

So, which leper are you?

One of the nine lepers, the Samaritan, who never thanked Jesus? Or, the Samaritan leper, who thanked Jesus?

This Gospel story is pretty much straight-forward. There is no hyperbolic expression.  Thus, it is easy to figure out which leper you are. 

It is always a good practice to reflect on a scripture passage in this way – placing ourselves, our own lives, in the context of the scripture narratives. A University of Chicago Catholic theologian, David Tracy, calls this kind of practice, “mutually critical correlation”, an attempt to understand Christian text through our own lived life experience, mutually and critically correlating our lived life experience to the scriptures “ (“Particular question within general consensus” in “Consensus in Theology? A Dialogue with Hans Küng and Edward Schillebeeckx”, ed. Leonard Swidler) .  This way, the scripture is not an irrelevant text only for those who have studied theology but rather becomes a resourceful text to draw upon meaning of life. 

If I asked you which leper you would identify yourself with in public or in group, you would probably say, “the Samaritan one”, because the Gospel narrative describes him as the one Jesus was pleased with. In fact, though all of these ten lepers were healed, only the Samaritan leper was saved upon thanking Jesus (Luke 17: 19) .  

We must be honest in identifying which figures in the biblical narrative we may be. It is not to be confused with who we want to be. 

It is important that we first examine our own lives. 

So, are you generally happy? Or, do you find something to complain and grumble about more often than something to be grateful and happy about?  Do you always find some time to write letters, respond to phone calls and emails? Or, are you too busy to keep up with all the messages you receive in your smart phones? 

We must really look into how we live every day. 

If you happen to be a kind of person, who find more things to complain about but hardly find anything to be grateful about, then, chances are, you are more like the nine lepers, who did not come back to Jesus and thanked. Maybe these lepers were “too busy” to thank Jesus. 

But, no matter how busy you are, if you always find time to return phone messages, emails in timely manner, then, you also find more things to be thankful for, then, you are more like the Samaritan leper, who managed to find a time to visit Jesus and thank him. 

It is important to note in the Gospel narrative that only the one who took time and made efforts to thank Jesus was saved, though all ten lepers were healed by Jesus.

It is like these words of Jesus – Many are called but only few are chosen (Matthew 22:14).  So, we can say,” many are healed but only few are saved”. And, those few who are saved make special efforts to thank God for all He does, no matter how small God’s grace may be at a time. Such a thankful person has a high level of mindfulness. It takes an advanced degree of mindfulness to recognize even a small thing to be thankful for and to express appreciation. 

Giving thanks is what the Samaritan leper did, and he was saved, not just healed.

Are you a person, who is always grateful for what you have, mindful of every single blessing you receive, no matter how small it may be? Or, are you a person, who tends to see what you don’t have and feel unhappy about your life? 

If you fall into the former, then, you are likely to identify yourself with the Samaritan leper, and on your way to salvation. But, if you are the latter, then, you are more like the nine lepers who never expressed their gratitude to Jesus. 

The question: whether we are like the Samaritan leper or the other nine lepers – whether we are like a person who recognize more blessings and things to be thankful for or like a person who see what lacks in life and complain, is like the question: whether you see a glass half full or half empty. Namely, this is a matter of our attitude and the way we perceive the reality. 

To see a glass half full or half empty is a metaphor often used in cognitive and cognitive-behavior therapy. It is also used to explain how cognitive therapy works. 

Like the Rorschach ink-blot projective test to assess personality, this question of whether to see a glass half-full or half-empty is to see if our cognitive scheme is more prone to find things to complain about or to find things to be grateful for. From a developmental psychological perspective, the cognitive scheme that enables to see more blessings than deficiencies in life and express gratitude is likely to have had a healthy mother-child attachment formation during early life. On the other hand, the cognitive scheme that tends to see a glass half-empty tends to suggest that the person has had frustrating early childhood because of his or her mother’s excessive love, which contributed to develop narcissistic personality as a result of a pathological attachment process. 

As adult Christians, it is important to read biblical stories to reflect our own life experiences on or to correlate our own lived life experiences with. 

As a pastoral psychologist, I often invite my clients to juxtapose their own lived life experiences to certain biblical narratives, such as this Gospel story, to see which biblical characters they identity themselves with, in order to clinically and spiritually assess their psychospiritual wellbeing. 

Ultimate goal for pastoral psychological services is to guide clients to be and stay on the right path of salvation. This path of salvation is the path of what Jung calls individuation – the path to grow into the fullness. To put this in a pastoral theological perspective, the fullness that we are to become is the fullness in the mystery of Christ, finding our true identity beyond our own selves but in the fullness of Christ.  As I pointed out in my blog entry, “St. Francis as a Morita Therapy Practitioner – A Case Study of Bro. Leo”(10/13/13), it is how St. Francis guided Bro. Leo through his pastoral psychological intervention, applying some principles of Morita Therapy, which bears some Zen Buddhist spirituality, to overcome his ego-attachment narcissism by finding his real self in the fullness of Christ. 

This way, Bro. Leo began to see his own shortcomings not as something to reproach himself and get depressed about himself but as a reason to be more intimately united with Christ, holding his fragmented aspects of self as a new clay is applied to seal the cracks of old rusty Japanese tea bowl, resulting in the “wabi-sabi”kind of aesthetic new value. And, new outcome is definitely something to be thankful for. 

With this recognition, what Bro. Leo used to see as something to be resentful about in him was transformed into something to be grateful and to express his gratitude to Christ for holding him like a beautiful “wabi-sabi” Japanese tea bowl.

In fact, the “wabi-sabi” Japanese tea bowl with marks of cracks filled with new clay is like the image of the fullness of the risen Christ. It is because the risen Christ, who is completely transcendental across time and distance, maintains the wounds from the Crucifixion, which are the powerful reminder that he suffered and died. But, in the Catholic tradition, we kneel before the Crucifix, because it reminds us of what we are truly grateful for – the redeeming us from the path toward condemnation. Thus, the indelible marks of his wounds in the fullness of the risen Christ, like the marks of the cracks of a Japanese “wabi-sabi” tea bowl, is something we treasure and express our gratitude for. Thus, in finding our true identity in this image of the fullness of Christ with the marks of his wounds, we become able to see what we used to complain about as something to be grateful for. And, this shift in perspective is a transformation of our cognitive scheme – a change in the way we perceive the reality.  This way, pastoral counseling can help to transform those who identify themselves with the nine lepers into persons who are more like the Samaritan leper. 

The bottom line is mindfulness that enables us not only to recognize our needs – what we need to receive, but also to recognize what others need and what pleases those who have given us something. In our giving back, it does not have to be something with equal value or above. This is not about equitable exchanges. It is about returning our gratefulness. After all, who won’t feel happy to hear “Thank you!”? 

In our relationship with God, there is no way we can return all the favors that God has done for us – all the graces we have received from God – in an equitable way.  What we can give back is so limited. But, unless we suffer from “gratitude deficiency” because of our lack of awareness and sensitivity, then, all we have to give back is our sincere thanks. 

When we go to God’s alter and receive the Sacrament of Eucharist, we don’t say “Thank you” but we say ‘Amen!”. But, we say ”Amen!” with our gratitude, as the word, “Eucharist” means “giving thanks”. 

The Eucharist is, indeed, a kind of gift, to which we cannot practice “utang-ng-loob” or “giri ninjou” in an equitable manner. We have no ability to match the magnitude of this God’s gift, the Eucharist, which is the body and blood of Christ, in our practice of “utang-ng-loob” and “giri ninjou”. But, if we are mindful and sensitive enough to empathize God, who gives this precious grace out of His love, then, it is our heart of compassion that prompts us to express our gratitude in place of giving back an equal or above value gift – just as the Samaritan leper returned to Jesus and gave thanks to him. 

Now we know that what we need for our salvation is our heartfelt expression of gratitude. And, it is also an indication of our psychospiritual health.

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In expressing our gratitude, we can put our grateful heart in this song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K44trVhtZX4