From the Rectors Desk

Turning Back With Gratitude! Texts: 2 Corinthians 9:6-15; Luke 17:11-19.

Research shows us that in 2015 Canada was 5th happiest nation in the world. In 2021 it was 14th. In 2025 it was 18th. In the 2026 World Happiness Report, Canada is 25th — now behind the US at 23rd. That's one of the steepest falls of any country — life satisfaction dropped from 7.48/10 in 2012 to 6.80 in 2025. In biblical terms, can we be considered one of the nine lepers? We have been cleansed, enriched, given abundance in every way, and to "to go and sin no more." But we have not turned back - to say 'Thank you!' From someone who was born and raised in the global south (Africa), having experienced what it means to keep trusting God to meet every need, yet being thankful for little "crumbs from under the table," every little help means a lot to me and my family. As the saying goes, "Half a loaf is better than no bread." That's what makes my family to be thankful for every opportunity to  breathe clean air, live freely, eat in varieties and to serve God joyfully in this country.

While I remain thankful and basking in the grace of God for being a Canadian; it is a great  privilege, oh yes indeed! I have seen how Canadians have sometimes complained in the midst of plenty, too anxious, too tired of little adjustments, too financially squeezed to say eucharisto - to be thankful! That's why 2 Corinthians 9:15 matters for Canadian Thanksgiving: Paul ends not with "be more grateful" but with "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!" Thanksgiving is not produced by prosperity. If it were, 2015 Canada (5th happiest) would be less thankful than 2026 Canada (25th). It's the opposite. Gratitude in scripture is never produced by counting what we have. It's produced by remembering who gave it or who is willing to share it with us [and in our context with the indigenous peoples of this land] — and turning back to say 'Thank you' really matters!

This Sunday should we now turn back like the Samaritan and fall at Jesus' feet to say thank you for what we have received? (Luke 17:17-18). On Monday we become the cheerful giver so that someone else, standing at a distance from us, has reason to turn back and thank God because of us. If our Thanksgiving table only has gratitude and no generosity, we are like the nine — cleansed, but not yet made whole. But if we sow bountifully — food bank, rent, welcome newcomers/immigrants — then our little Table in Winnipeg participates in what Paul calls "the indescribable gift" ( 2 Corinthians 9:15).That gift is Jesus Himself — the foreigner who turned back for us to give His ALL!

Thanks be to God. Amen.