These reflections are the leftover fragments from my homily at Sacred Heart this morning, Thanksgiving Day, November 28, 2013. Luke 17:11-19.

Fragments from The Word

Fragments for Thanksgiving Day

Gratitude shapes our identity, changing a leper into a believer.

Gratitude allows us to live in the present, not be overcome with what has been lost.

Gratitude helps create a generous spirit, not a life locked in isolation and anger.

The outcast gives us the real food for thought, gratitude at the feet of the Savior.

The shunned continue to show us how to belong to God.

The physically ill reveal to us how to heal from inside with gratitude.

We live with much abundance yet fear eats away at our spiritual lives.

We long for communion; the forbidden leper ties us back to community.

We long to be full; the real food comes from outcasts, lepers and sinners.

We stand on the same soil as those who have little.

The earth is our common ground, where we believe that we are the same.

The earth’s richness gives way to all humanity.

Gratitude must come from our common ground.

I am grateful for relationships especially in a year when I cut many important ties.

I am grateful for priesthood especially in a year when my exterior identity has radically changed.

I am grateful for Holy Cross especially in a year when I have left so much of myself behind in another state.

I am grateful for my gifts and talents especially in a year when I am stretched to live what is most important.

I am grateful for the past especially in a year when it tugs on me to live only there.

I am grateful for the now because it is the only time and place I can learn to believe.