28th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C
2 Kings 5: 14-17; 2 Timothy 2: 8-13;
Luke 17: 11-19
The
author, W. H. Auden once wrote that when grace enters our lives, we
as humans have no choice, we must dance. It is a wonderful sentiment
and I wish it were true but, sadly, it is not. More often than not
we allow life's little irritations to distract us from acknowledging
grace.
Today's
gospel depicts ten lepers cured by Jesus, but only one returns to
praise God and give thanks. Were the other nine ungrateful or could
it have been something else? Perhaps they didn't even notice they
had been cured.
We
all know how mosquitoes can ruin a picnic. Not too long ago, I
attended a party at my sister's house. It was beautiful evening and
there were a lot of guests. Some were playing cornhole. Others were
just sitting in lawn chairs and talking. There was a pot of chili on
the stove and aroma of hamburgers and hot dogs from the grill filled
the air. For a time everything was perfect. This is “Sabbath”
in the biblical sense. You are celebrating life. You are surrounded
by family and friends, enjoying leisure time away from work, all with
good food and drink. Grace has entered and everything is glorious
except for one thing – mosquitoes. As the sun began to set, the
insects invited themselves to the party. A bite here and a bite
there, and soon everyone was distracted. Before long, the good cheer
had evaporated – replaced by irritation. The grace – still
present – was forgotten and the inclination to dance had
disappeared.
We
have all experienced moments such as this. Given the complexities of
life, irritations of some sort will always be present. Every parade
has a little rain, every silver lining has a cloud, every green
pasture has a little fertilizer. Life rarely comes to us
unencumbered, free from distraction. We hardly ever get to
experience moments of pure, clear-cut joy. Everything comes with a
shadow – like a mosquito at a picnic.
And
so it is not always easy to dance – even in the presence of grace.
The mosquito bites can cause us to lose perspective. Grace is
trumped by life. Even a minor irritation can make us lose sight of
the huge graces present in our lives.
We
try to live in the moment but even that is difficult. Elements from
our past haunt our memories and distract us – the remembrance of a
song, a forgotten face, a humiliation on the playground – and a
thousand other past incidents force themselves into our heads.
Likewise, future events cause anxiety – the test tomorrow that we
are not prepared for, what the doctor will tell us on our next visit
– all these things pile up and make living in the moment almost
impossible. The grace within the present moment never comes to us
pure.
And
yet the challenge remains – a healthy and important challenge. We
cannot allow the mosquito bites of life to blind us to the graces
within our midst. We must find a way to turn away from distraction
and annoyance, and celebrate with God. David Steidl-Rast, a
spiritual writer, articulates this point very clearly. “You think
this is just another day in your life. It's not just another day;
it's the one day that is given to you today. It's given to you;
it's a gift. It is the only gift that you have right now, and the
only appropriate response is gratefulness. If you do nothing else
but to cultivate that response to the great gift that this unique day
is, if you learn to respond as if it were the first day of your life
and the very last day, then you will have spent this day very well.”
My
friends, we cannot allow the mosquitoes of the world to intrude on
the graces within our lives. The grace that is this moment comes but
once. Embrace it. Celebrate it. Dance with it.
Deacon Darryl J. Diemer
28th Sunday in Ordinary Time
October 13, 2013
Painting:
James Tissot
Healing Of The Lepers At Capernaum (1886-94)
