By Barb Arland-Fye
Editor
As we sat down for the Friday evening Mass in the chapel, I felt a jolt of pain in my upper left leg that shook me. Throughout the liturgy of around 30 minutes, I struggled to sit, stand or move to a kneeling position because of the stabs of pain, apparently one of the residual consequences of a bicycle accident late last month.
Hobbling out of the chapel after Mass with my husband Steve, my hopes faded for covering the Pilgrimage of Hope for Creation and the Mass for the Care of Creation the next morning in Davenport. Reluctantly I texted Deacon Kent Ferris, who was overseeing the event, that I had to cancel and asked for help getting photos and commentary. He agreed with his usual graciousness and concern for my health and well-being.
Miraculously, I felt much better the next morning but fretted about my ability to cover the event without a flare up of excruciating pain. Steve said, “If you feel OK, stop fretting and get going!”
God made crooked roads straight — the traffic signals between LeClaire and Davenport turned in my favor — and I found a parking spot close enough to the pilgrimage’s start at the foot of the Mississippi River near the historic Dillon Memorial.
I arrived in time to snap a photo of the small group of pilgrims beginning their trek up Main Street and accompanied them for the duration — less than a mile — to St. Anthony Catholic Church. Sunny, but unseasonably cool weather, coupled with inspiring reflections and prayer made the experience gratifying. In my own prayer, I thanked God for the opportunity to participate.
Bishop Dennis Walsh presided at the Mass. During the introductory rite, he filled a ceremonial bucket with water from the baptismal font, then blessed and sprinkled us, to recall our baptism. The readings, his homily and the prayer intercessions focused on care for all of God’s creation and our call to “act justly, to love in mercy and walk humbly with God” (from the Universal Prayer).
The homily inspired and stuck with me, with its message of gratitude for all of God’s creation built on the story of the “Cleansing of Ten Lepers” (Luke 17:11-19). As Luke tells us, just one of the 10 lepers returned to give God thanks for his healing. “The other nine received the gift, but they did not acknowledge the giver,” Bishop Walsh said.
This Gospel, he continued, “invites us to ask ourselves about the gifts that we, too, have received. Sadly, we too, have received gifts that we have never acknowledged. We have been blessed and touched by the Lord and have never given thanks.”
How many times have I failed to give God thanks within the joys and sorrows, challenges and triumphs of my day and the life with which God has blessed me? Sometimes, the temptation to give in to discouragement and despair override gratitude. However, not on that day, Sept. 6, when I knew God’s grace allowed me to attend and cover an experience I am savoring.
Pain still bites, the ribs still hurt and it is challenging to type with a broken pinky, but the outcome could have been much worse. Bishop Walsh encouraged, “Let us be like the one grateful leper.”
Today, I am that grateful leper.
(Contact Editor Barb Arland-Fye at arland-fye@davenportdiocese.org)
