Perhaps a peculiar gospel is offered for this day of thanksgiving. Yet just a few moments with this story and you may come to realize the remarkable spirit of this story from the lips of Jesus. Like the lepers, we have been guaranteed a future by the God who made regardless of whatever sin we may have encountered in our lives. On this day, when you look back upon all that you have been offered by God, you can realize that there always is a future for you with God. With every gift given by the all-loving God, a new tomorrow has dawned in your life. With each gift given to you, like the lepers, you have been made whole.
We also reflect upon the lyrics of beloved songs such as America the Beautiful and the values of liberty and freedom that is ours today. Nonetheless, we cannot overlook the newest freedom struggle challenging our nation: the undocumented immigrants. This is the challenge to each of us to share the gift of freedom won by our ancestors. To us who proclaim freedom's beat across the land and the gospel Jesus preached that strangers and sojourners, along with widows and orphans, are vulnerable persons who must be treated with justice and compassion. In 1996, the beloved Pope John Paul II presented these words to the world on World Migration Day: "In the Church no one is a stranger, and the Church is not foreign to anyone, anywhere ... the Church is the place where illegal immigrants are also recognized as sisters and brothers."
America! America! God shed his grace on thee 'till selfish gain no longer stain the banner of the free.
