In response to the Gospel reading of the healing of the ten lepers in which one turns back to Jesus to give thanks, Fr. Matthew Howell preaches about the importance of gratitude and thanksgiving. He claims that the Christian life is a life of thanksgiving (or more properly, "The Thanksgiving") and connects the dots by connecting the first line of the epistle (Col. 3:4) with our reception of holy communion--the Eucharist--in the liturgy. He also says that thankfulness is the path to attain humility which is the antidote to pride because "it is crowded at the center of the universe." Along the way, he tells the story of a man who sends him a list of five things he is thankful for everyday, explains why we should be thankful for prayer requests that God denies, mentions that all God wanted from mankind was thanksgiving, quotes the Wisdom of Sirach, and even finds time to give a little explanation about how the Samaritan leper was saved in both body and soul through obedience and immediate thankfulness.
