Ty! Yw!!

Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

            There is a new language developing right in our very midst.  I’m not a philologist, but I’m sure those who study languages are having a field day with this new language.  I wouldn’t say that I speak this language fluently, but I am conversational in it, though, to be honest, it’s not a spoken language, but only a written one.  I don’t know if there’s a name for it, but I’m going to call it English Text Language.

           

It’s a very efficient language, because it seeks to eliminate the excess characters you have to put into a text, or even in a tweet, where you are limited to 140 characters to express a thought.  Some of the words and phrases in English Text Language are easy.  The word “be” is simply the letter b, just like the word “are” is just the letter r.  You get rid of the English rules about your (y-o-u-r) and you’re (y-o-u-‘-r-e) by just writing u-r, unless you want to say you are, in which case you can separate the letters u and r.  But it does get a bit more complicated.  Common phrases are often abbreviated: s-m-h is shaking my head; w-d-y-m is what do you mean; I-d-k is I don’t know, and I-d-c is I don’t care.  Another ubiquitous abbreviation is n-p: no problem, which is often the response when someone texts “thank you,” which would of course be written, t-y.

            There are obviously some benefits to this system if you’re texting or tweeting.  But it strikes me that the response n-p can have s a negative effect on our appreciation for a person or an act for which we should be grateful.  Rather than acknowledging the person or the thing that was done, it’s written off, minimized, because it was no problem.  The person who is being thanked is basically saying, though perhaps not with this intention, there’s no reason to thank me, because what I did wasn’t that much or wasn’t that important.  And this message, over time, can erode a culture of gratitude that is so important, and about which our first reading and Gospel speak today.

            In the first reading, Naaman wants to thank Elisha because Naaman had been a leper, but had followed the advice of Elisha and washed in the Jordan, and was cured.  Now, at first, maybe it seems like Elisha just tells Naaman, n-p, because he will not accept Naaman’s gift.  But what is really happening is that Elisha is refusing to take credit, because it was God who healed Naaman, not Elisha.  And Naaman, after some arguing back and forth, gets the point, because he ends up taking dirt so he can worship the true God, rather than his pagan gods.  Naaman wants to give thanks to God by offering a sacrifice.

            In the Gospel, it can be very easy to moralize this story of the ten lepers.  How many times have parents used it to teach children to say thank you?  And that certainly is part of the message.  But we shouldn’t want to say thank you simply because there’s a rule.  Whenever we receive a gift, thanksgiving should exude from us quite naturally.  Yes, Jesus wondered why the other nine lepers did not return to give thanks (though it should be noted that He never told them to return).  But he does wonder, that is, He is impressed, that thanksgiving is the natural response of the leper, a Samaritan, back to Jesus.  And this Samaritan has some faith that Jesus is God, as Jesus says, “‘your faith has saved you.’”  Jesus accepts what Elisha cannot, because Jesus is the same God who healed Naaman centuries before.

            How often are we thankful, and how often do we give God thanks for the many blessings He has given us?  We are meant to give thanks each time we come to Mass, because even the work Eucharist comes from Greek which mean “to give thanks well.”  We offer thanks to God the Father through Jesus the Son in the power of the Holy Spirit first and foremost for the gift of new life that was made possible by the death and resurrection of Jesus.  But we should also give thanks to God for all the other great gifts He has given us: life; our talents; love; perhaps financial stability; perhaps a good education; friends; faith; the list can go on and on.  I want to challenge you to spend 3 minutes before each Mass thanking God.  I know that a lot of us talk to our friends when we’re here in the nave of the church.  Catching up with friends is a great thing, but spend 3 minutes before Mass here in the pews thanking your best friend, God, who has given you the other friends to whom you can speak.  Talk with your other friends earlier before Mass or after Mass in the vestibule, so that everyone can take time in silence to thank God for the many blessings.

            And, the next time you do something kind for someone, and they say “thank you” (because they were taught good manners), don’t say, “no problem,” or text n-p, but say you’re welcome, and accept the gratitude that the other person is sharing with you, no matter how big or how small you think the gift or favor was.  In this way we’ll build up a culture of gratitude, which will certainly make the world a better and holier place.  T-t-y-l.