The Catholic Church observes the Memorial of Saint Martin of Tours, featuring daily Mass readings that focus on God’s mercy and the spiritual importance of gratitude.
In the daily liturgy, the readings include a passage from Saint Paul’s letter to Titus. Paul reminds believers that before grace intervened, people were foolish, disobedient, and enslaved to various desires.
The text further instructs believers to remain under the authority of magistrates, to be peaceable, and to slander no one. Paul describes the human condition as once being “hateful ourselves and hating one another,” according to the daily reading in Catholic Index.
The text emphasizes that God saves humanity not through righteous deeds, but through His mercy and the renewal of the Holy Spirit. Psalm 23 accompanies these readings, featuring the refrain: “The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.” The passage also notes that God “refreshes my soul” and leads the faithful through the “dark valley.”
The Gospel reading for the memorial, taken from Luke 17:11–19, recounts Jesus healing ten lepers as He travels through Samaria and Galilee. Catholic Index notes that the men stood at a distance and cried out for pity, after which Jesus told them to show themselves to the priests. When the group encountered Jesus, they called out to him, “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!”
As they walked, all ten men were cleansed of their illness. However, only one of them—a Samaritan—realized he had been healed, returned to glorify God, and fell at the feet of Jesus to thank Him. Jesus then questioned the whereabouts of the others, asking, “Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?”
In a meditation published for the occasion, The Word Among Us examines the healing of the lepers and highlights a comment by Blessed Fulton Sheen. Sheen observed that “Thankfulness is rare, ingratitude is common,” according to The Word Among Us.
The meditation encourages believers to develop a daily habit of gratitude, noting how the Samaritan’s thankfulness opened his heart to deeper grace. Jesus confirmed this spiritual shift by telling the man, “Your faith has saved you.”
The liturgy for the memorial also includes an Entrance Antiphon, which states, “I shall raise up for myself a faithful priest who will act in accord with my heart and my mind, says the Lord.”
Reflecting on the Gospel, the meditation suggests that gratitude can serve as a tool to combat bitterness and negative attitudes. It advises readers to cultivate a habit of thanking God for small occurrences, such as sleeping well or observing nature. The text concludes with a prayer for the faithful:
“Lord Jesus, open my eyes to see all the ways you’re blessing me each day!”
—A prayer included in the daily meditation from The Word Among Us.
