“You have no need of our praise, yet our desire to thank you is itself your gift. Our prayer of thanksgiving adds nothing to your greatness, but makes us grow in your grace…” The above words from Common (Weekday) Preface IV spell out the nature of the relationship that ought to exist between creatures and their Creator: a relationship of gratitude. Creatures are obliged to be grateful to their Creator not only because they owe their existence to the Creator, but also because it is by the Creator’s gracious acts towards them that they are kept in existence. Creatures must relate to their Creator in such way not for any other reason but simply because it is the only proper way to maintain their identity as creatures. In other words, gratitude should define and characterize a creature’s life (existence). It is about this that today’s First and Gospel Readings seek to remind us.
In the First Reading, we encounter Naaman, a highly respected and valued commander of the army of the king of Aram, who was suffering from the dreaded disease of leprosy. As a man in such a coveted position, Naaman must have spent fortunes in an effort to keep the disease under control. However, no remedy seems to have helped him. It was only after some form of “divine” intervention that he was healed by the Lord at the hands of prophet Elisha. It was a turn of events that led Naaman, though a Gentile, to profess faith in the Lord God of Israel. And in gratitude to his healing, he offered to make a thanksgiving sacrifice to the Lord. 
In the Gospel reading, we see Jesus’ journey towards Jerusalem taking him through a Samaritan village where he encountered a group of ten lepers. The lepers must have known who Jesus was for on seeing him, they implored him for healing. Having pity on them, Jesus sent them to go show themselves to the priests and as they made their way, they were cleansed. One of them, a Samaritan, having realized that he had been made clean, made an about turn and came back to where they had met Jesus in order to thank him. It was a gesture that touched Jesus, prompting him to ask where the other nine were and whether they felt no obligation to give thanks to God. In their defense, we can point to the fact that, as Jews (we assume they were Jews because only the Samaritan was referred to as a foreigner), they perfectly understood the reason why Jesus had sent them to the priests (cf. Leviticus 14:2-9). They understood that it was for their good to be declared clean by the priests since it was only the priests who could re-integrate them back into the society. But it might have also been that at the sight of their being made whole, they became overwhelmed with excitement and probably ran home to share the good news with their loved ones. If the latter was the case, we can only say that they demonstrated a typical, normal human reaction. They had spent their lives keeping away from people including their family members (remember they shouted to Jesus from a distance-they were not allowed to come into contact with the rest of the community). Despite their failure to return to Jesus in thanksgiving, we can give them the benefit of doubt and believe that in the depths of their beings, they were filled with gratitude to both God and to Jesus for their being made clean.
Whereas we can be impelled, together with Jesus, to ask why the nine did not return to render thanks to Jesus, we should not judge them because they represent all of us. The nine cleansed lepers represent all of us who at one time or another have failed to show our gratitude to the Lord or to our brothers and sisters after being recipients of their goodness. Perhaps like the nine, we too become overwhelmed with excitement so much so that we forget to express our gratitude whenever someone does good to us. But it can also be that unlike the Samaritan who realized what had happened to him and returned to give thanks, we have ceased to recognize those moments when we become recipients of God’s gracious acts towards us. Jesus referred to the cleansed Samaritan as a foreigner. He was not used to good things going his way. He belonged to a “no-people” (pagans). He was a second class citizen and had no rights. Anything that came to him or he was given was received as a privilege, not as something that he deserved. This was how he received the cleansing from Jesus. Because he was used to showing his gratitude whenever he received anything, he was moved out of habit to return to Jesus and do him homage. 
It is the one who counts everything he/she receives as a gift, that is, as something undeserved, who shows gratitude. Perhaps we have come to regard everything that come our way as our right, as things that we deserve rather than as gifts or blessings. Perhaps we have become used to God so much so that we feel no need to show God our gratitude. Perhaps we have come to feel that we don’t owe God our gratitude as we argue that God has done what God has to do. But as the words of Common Preface IV remind us, to be human is to show gratitude. Human beings are creatures of gratitude who can only express themselves fully in gratitude. It is when we live in gratitude that we live in God’s grace. Like the Samaritan leper, we must always feel obliged to express our gratitude whenever we become recipients of good deeds.