Praise and Gratitude

From our youth we have been taught to "say thank you."  If the message has "stuck" it is a way of life.  It's amazing, however, to read in today's Gospel of the Ten lepers, of the ingratitude of the Nine.
St. Bernard has some rather harsh words to describe the lack of gratitude:  "Ingratitude is the enemy of our souls, the annihilation of our merits, the scattering of our virtues, the loss of our benefactions  Ingratitude is a burning wind, drying up the fountain of piety, the dew of mercy.  Nothing so displeases God, especially the children of grace, For ingratitude obstructs the pats of grace, and where there is ingratitude grace no longer finds access and has not place." Wow!
Yet, the one leper, having had a physical healing, an amazing experience in itself, as anyone who has been healed through medicine or prayer (or both) can attest, first glorifies God and then says thank you to Jesus.  Praise comes first, then thanks.  He acknowledged the power of God, the grace of God even before concentrating on his own healing.  He teaches us the true place of gratitude, as the occasion to acknowledge and praise God.
Bro. Rene