Dear parish family,
In this Sunday’s Gospel, ten lepers cry out to Jesus for healing (cf. Lk 17:11-19). All ten are cured, but only one — a Samaritan and a foreigner — turns back to glorify God and give thanks. Jesus says to him, “Your faith has saved you.” Healing restored his body, but gratitude transformed his heart. The miracle was completed not in the cleansing, but in his return to the Giver.
Naaman the Syrian, in our first reading, makes a similar return (cf. 2 Kings 5:14-17). Having been healed of leprosy in the Jordan, he goes back to Elisha to give thanks and to profess faith in the Lord, saying: “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel.” Both Naaman and the Samaritan teach us that the greatest blessing is not the gift received, but the relationship that grows when we come back to the One who gives.
And that is exactly what the Eucharist is — our weekly return to the Giver. The word Eucharist itself means thanksgiving. At every Mass, we come to encounter Jesus personally — not as an abstract idea, but as the living Lord who loves, heals, and transforms us. The Eucharist is not a ritual we attend; it is a relationship we enter. It is the appointment with the most important person we will ever meet — Jesus Christ Himself.
Here in bustling Astoria, surrounded by life, culture, and noise, it can be easy to forget that God is at the center of it all. While we are blessed that our parish Mass attendance remains higher than many others, it still pains the heart to see so many of the baptized not returning regularly to the Lord’s table. They are like the nine lepers — enjoying the gift, but forgetting the Giver.
Parents, I want to speak especially to you. Please teach your children to love the Holy Mass — not just to “go to church,” but to love the encounter with Jesus. Help them understand that this friendship with God is unlike any other friendship. We meet friends to chat, to eat, to play — but at Mass we meet the Lord who gives us life, forgives our sins, and strengthens us for the journey. Show them by your example: by how you prepare for Sunday, how you arrange your household tasks to make time for this holy encounter, how you look forward to it with joy. Let your children see your excitement, your reverence, your readiness to meet Christ.
Here’s how you might prepare your hearts together. Read the Scriptures of the day in advance. Ask your children what they would like to pray for, what they are thankful for, and bring those prayers to the altar. Teach them that their intentions, joined with the gifts of bread and wine, are offered to God to be transformed. After Mass, talk together about the homily, the readings, or the message that touched you most. Let them see how that message shapes you — how it changes your attitude, your choices, your discipleship. Faith that is not lived, discussed, or celebrated at home quickly fades. If our young people do not learn to love the Mass now, they will not grow up with it. If they learn to enjoy the gifts of life but never return to give thanks to the Giver, they risk growing up spiritually spoiled.
I can say personally that learning to “return to the Giver” has shaped my own priestly life. When I come to the Eucharist not just to receive, but also to offer my gratitude, I find my heart renewed, my burdens lighter, and my hope restored. This spirituality of thanksgiving has made me a better disciple, a more patient priest, and a more joyful servant of the Gospel.
So, dear friends, let us all return to the Giver — every Sunday, and as often as we can. Let us make the Eucharist the center of our lives, the heart of our family rhythms, the source of our joy. As Pope Francis used to say, “Todos, todos — Everyone, everyone!” There is room for all at the Lord’s table. Let us fill our pews, not out of obligation, but out of love — and together form a community where gratitude becomes the air we breathe, and Christ becomes the center of everything we do.
With blessing and gratitude,
Msgr. “John” Cuong M. Pham