By Fr Antony Christy, SDB –
The touchstone of Sanctity
October 13, 2019: 28th Sunday in Ordinary time
2 Kings 5:14-17; 2 Timothy 2:8-13; Luke 17: 11-19
Spiritual life is made of a set of attitudes that make up who we are! The touchstone of an authentically spiritual person lies in the virtue that the Word of God speaks to us of today: the great attitude of Gratitude… gratitude for every goodness that one experiences, gratitude to the Source of all that one has and one is: God! “What do you have that you did not receive?” asks St. Paul in his letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor 4:7)… hence, the very touchstone of sanctity can easily be true sense of gratitude.
Gratitude is born of a Humble Recognition of God! Namaan was asked to dip in river Jordan and he felt offended because his pride ruled his will. But when he listens to that word from the Man of God, humbling himself for that moment, he recognised the presence of the Mighty God. It is only when I am humble, I recognise God and that recognition of God makes me more humble in turn!
Gratitude is expressed in Grateful Submission to God! An authentic outcome of immense gratitude is total submission to God for the marvels that God has done to us. We see the man in the Gospel, just one out of the ten of them – “he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks” (v.16). What happened to the rest? Either they did not realise they were healed or they did not realise that the healing was a gift! This Samaritan heart realised the gratuitous miracle and recognised the hand of God – and the result was, a grateful submission at the feet of Jesus.
Gratitude leads to a Faithful Perseverance in God’s ways! “Rise and go your way, your faith has made you well” (v.19) says Jesus, commissioning him to be an apostle to the World. That is the commission we receive every time we experience the grace of God in our personal lives – to go into the world and share the Word of God, ‘that the word of God may not be fettered’ (cf. 2 Tim 2:9). It is the gratitude for the goodness that we have experienced in the Lord that makes us persevere, amidst all troubles and trials we might face. Our perseverance is not so much because we are faithful to the Lord, as because the Lord is faithful to us, reminds St. Paul in the second reading (2 Tim 2:13).
A grateful heart is a humble heart and a humble person will ever be a God-filled person and a God-filled person is marked by his or her courage and strength to persevere. That is why gratitude, a true sense of gratitude can be considered the touchstone of sanctity! Today, the Church invites us to recognise this sanctity as lived by five persons… as they are canonised as saints, that is persons who have lived their virtues to an heroic level and have become our models and intercessors.
Cardinal John Henry Newman (1801-1890), lived half of his life as an Anglican before he converted to Catholicism in October 1845. In his humility he recognised the truth and was strong enough to go after it and he becomes a giant of sanctity from the 19th Century.
Mother Mariam Thresia (1876-1926), was an Indian mystic and founder of the Congregation of the Holy Family. In her faithful perseverance as an apostle of God’s merciful love and compassion, she shines out as a model of true Christian living.
Ms. Marguerite Bays (1815-1879), was a Swiss lay woman who belonged to the Secular Franciscan Order, working as a seamstress. She was an ardent catechist who in her grateful and total submission to the Lord received the grace of the stigmata and united herself to the sufferings of the Lord from 1854 right up to her death.
Mother Giuseppina Vannini (1859-1911), was a Sister from Rome who founded the Congregation of the Daughters of St. Camillus. In her faithful perseverance she endured her health conditions and sought to serve others in sickness, even at the risk of her own life.
Sister Dulce Lopes (1914-1992), was a Sister from Salvador, Brazil, belonging to the Congregation of the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God. Despite her humble life style, due to her dedication and commitment, she was nominated for a Nobel Prize! In 2010, when the body was exhumed for beatification, it was found intact and her grateful submission to the Lord and suffering people of God, has taken her evermore closer to God.
Learning to look at our daily life and recognise the miracles that happen in abundance; putting up with daily crosses with the image of the Crucified Saviour in our hearts; placing ourselves each day at the feet of Jesus to be sent into the world as messengers of his loving Word – that is growing into Spiritual persons, Saintly persons. Certainly, gratitude for all the goodness we experience is the touchstone of this spirituality, of this sanctity.
Let us heed the call of the Word today, increase our sense of gratitude and grow into authentic spiritual persons, in other words saints!
Fr Antony Christy is a Salesian Priest from 2005, who has a Masters in Philosophy (specialisation in Religion) and a Masters in Theology (Specialisation in Catechetics). He is currently pursuing his doctoral research in Theology at Salesian Pontifical University, Rome. Walking with the Young towards a World of Peace and Dialogue is the passion that fires him on.