28th Sunday of Ordinary Time Year C

This weeks post is later than planned, and I am sorry! I am away from base on a preaching course and some holidays, so structure has fallen down a bit. I am reminded of something Fulton J Sheen said about time. He was exhorting his priests to make a daily holy hour in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. He reminded them that the most difficult time to fulfill such a devotion was when one was on holiday; "When we have all the time, we have no time. We will always excuse ourselves "I can do it later". Later of course never comes and our time is gone." So, I spent a week saying I'll do it later!
An interesting aspect of the course was the concept of preaching by ear. You know the way a musical instrument can be played by ear, the music seems to come from within rather than simply playing the notes; preaching can be done in the same way. A good homily will always appear to come from the heart, when it is disengaged from the preacher, it certainly will not engage with the the people who are listening. A sermon or a homily is a living entity. It is for a specific time and a specific place. It is a moment of grace where the the Word of God can become alive and active as it says in Hebrews in a very visible way. That is, of course, not to say the Word of God is not alive and active outside of the sermon. The Word of God is what it is, but when it is shared and experienced as an oral event it becomes tangible; for it was spoken before it was written. There is lots more that can be said about that, which I hope to in time.

Anyway, this Sundays readings, what can be said? As I am not preaching this Sunday the normal preparation process as has gone out the window, so I cannot admit to have deeply engaged with the text, so I do not feel as if I can expound on the mysteries as I should. The thought that struck me about this gospel, however, is one of gratitude which leads to faith. The sick are healed in the 1st reading and in the Gospel. Naaman acknowledges the God of Israel, the foreign leper seeks out the Lord to thank him. When I experience God in my life, either in trauma or in more gentle and hidden ways, I become aware   of the complete mystery of our life in Him. God made me! God, the creator of Heaven and Earth, of everything seen and unseen made me! Not only that, God become man and died so I could share His divine life. That should make us grateful, that in turn should make us joyful and awaken our desire to come close to him.
The characters in the readings had an experience of God in their lives that made them grateful. We should never stop giving thanks to God for all he has done for us. If only we were not so blind to see!