I cannot help but think about how I would have likely been one of the nine who forgot to be thankful in their return to their normal lives. I've had a pain in my left hip for the past several days. It is only as I'm thinking about it that I notice that it is no longer there. While the pain was present, it was easy to feel sorry for myself, but its disappearance did not warrant notice, let alone thankfulness for its disappearance, on my part.
I also find it interesting that both stories dealt with foreigners who demonstrate their thankfulness. I notice that in religions and other ideologies, it is the converts--rather than those born into them--who seem to truly appreciate (and be more zealous about) their faith. Perhaps it is because they better recognize exactly what sort of life they had before, and thus have a deeper realization about what their faith provides for them.
I wonder this in regards to those young people (most of whom I personally know) who were newly confirmed by the archbishop during our mass today. I wonder if any of them feel thankful for what they experienced today. It would be easy for today to be just another ritual without devotion.
For that matter, was today another ritual without meaning for me, or did I remember to be thankful for the spiritual healing that mass provided me? As I said, I would likely have been one of the nine. Perhaps one of them later remembered to be thankful as I have just remembered, myself.