How do we express our gratitude to the Lord? Jesus is explicitly clear: “Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?” In times of desperate need, we call on to God, and rightly so. But it is also “truly right and just, our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere to give [you] thanks” the God who makes all things possible for us. It is truly right and just that we return to Him with our grateful hearts, praising and glorifying Him in the Eucharist. The Greek word from which we derive the word “Eucharist” means “thanksgiving”.

This weekend is Respect Life Sunday. It is an opportunity for us to listen to the cry of people whose lives are under grave threat. It is an opportunity for us to intervene and to stop the culture of death. Every life is precious. Every person is an irreplaceable gift from God.