What is the reason for ingratitude? Despite the many causes, it is undoubtedly the deficiency in the judgement we make of things, considering what is good to be bad, and vice versa.
Newsdesk (11/10/2022 14:21, Gaudium Press) At the end of the nineteenth century there occurred in São Paulo a case that illustrates very well Sunday’s liturgy regarding the ungrateful lepers.
There was a wealthy lady who, being in bad health, found in the house of a very good family of São Paulo a propitious and welcoming place to recover. The owners of the house even made their own daughters available to take care of the lady.
One of them, very virtuous and overflowing with goodness, promptly devoted herself with affection to the care of the sick woman. However, one of the sisters said to her:
– “My dear, don’t be silly. Do you want to know what will happen? When she leaves, she won’t even thank you. I, who only spend a few moments with her to tell her some funny story, will be the one who will be given thanks!
Said and done. When the lady left the residence, she coldly said “See you later; thank you, so-and-so” to her greatest benefactress. However, turning to the one who had only told her jokes, she said:
– “I am very grateful to you. You have been an angel for me, you have amused me, you have told me so many funny things, you have cheered up my spirit”.
After the lady who had only told stories had retired, she said to her sister, who had shown true affection for the sick woman: “See, didn’t I tell you?
– “See? Didn’t I tell you? Stop dedicating yourself to those who are bad, because you will only receive stones as a reward”.
To which she, somewhat shaken, but not at all resentful, replied:
– “But, the good was done!”[1]
The healing of ten lepers
Something similar happens in this past Sunday’s Gospel, to a superlatively more serious degree. St Luke tells us that while Jesus was passing through Samaria and Galilee, ten lepers came to him, asking him to cure them of their disease. The Divine Master ordered them to present themselves to the priests. They went, and on the way they were all healed. However, only one – who was a stranger – returned to give thanks (cf. Lk 17:11-16).
“And the other nine where are they?” our Lord asked (Lk 17:17). They simply did not return. Now, how can one classify someone who receives a benefit and does not give thanks for it? At the very least, he is ignorant of good manners, something that is learned from childhood and which is, unfortunately, increasingly rare in our days.
Of ten people healed, only one was grateful. Would that in our days there were one grateful person for nine ungrateful ones, for in this way the situation would still be comparable to that of the Gospel…
St. Thomas Aquinas explains that there are three degrees to the virtue of gratitude:
1) Acknowledging the benefit;
2) Giving thanks to the benefactor
3) To repay the favour in some way.[2]
Interestingly, these three degrees are reflected in the ways of giving thanks in different languages. The English formula ‘Thank you’ has the same root as the verb ‘to think’; to think of a benefit is, in short, to acknowledge it. The Latin languages generally seem to refer to the second level of gratitude, that is, to give thanks: ‘Gratias’ in Latin, ‘Gracias’ in Spanish, ‘Grazie’ in Italian, etc. The Portuguese “muito obrigado” (‘much obliged’), on the other hand, appears to be at the third level of gratitude: the obligation to make restitution.
The nine lepers who did not return to give thanks do not even seem to have recognized the benefit they had received; otherwise they would have taken some action. The one who did return was at least at the second degree of gratitude. How could he have reached the last degree? How to repay such a high good as the cure of such an illness? The only way would be with his own life. That is, if he set himself to follow and serve Our Lord to the end of his days. Would he have done this? We do not know, but we hope so.
One of the causes of ingratitude
We have a question to ask ourselves: what is the reason for ingratitude? There could be countless answers, but this one is worth mentioning: a deficiency in the judgment we make of things, considering what is good as bad, and vice versa. Let me explain.
Why does a sick person have more “gratitude” for those who tell him jokes than for those who cure him? In fact, if laughing were of greater benefit to the sick than going to a doctor, it would be better to take them to a circus rather than a hospital. In short, these are the inconsistencies of life.
Nevertheless, there are people who consider laughter as a greater good than therapy. In the case of the nine lepers in today’s Gospel, there was something they valued more than the healing that our Lord granted them. What would this “something” be? Probably the opinion of others. But we do not know for sure, for we do not know their story.
And we, how many times have we not been healed by God of the terrible “leprosy” of the soul, which is sin? Have we been grateful to our Creator? Or have we perhaps neglected the favours of the Most High and put our efforts into things that, though good and lawful, are less important for our salvation?
Finally, the liturgy of the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time teaches us that, before saying to God “please”, it is necessary to reach his ears with a beautiful and warm “thank you”.
By Lucas Rezende
[1] Cf. CLÁ DIAS, João Scognamiglio. Doña Lucilia. Città del Vaticano: LEV, 2013, p. 85.
[2] Cf. S. Th. II-II, q.107, a.2, co.
[3] Cf. LAUAND, Jean. “Thank you”, “Forgive me”: the Philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas Underlying our Everyday Language. Hospitality, v. 16, n. 02, (May-Aug) 2019, p. 141-142.
