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Gospel Reflection 20071014

There are no limits to what God can achieve with you.
When you are aware that you can improve yourself, that there's always something else to learn, and that others can show you how, you can do almost anything. When you do, it's O.K. to be proud when you realize that God, through other people, helped you achieve something. On the other hand, excessive pride is arrogance—the opposite of humility. When you strut around like you know it all and can beat anybody in anything, you can't grow. Maybe that's what Jesus meant when he said those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

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Faith & Gratitude
October 14, 2007


Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time


Gospel
Lk 17:11-19

As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem,
he traveled through Samaria and Galilee.
As he was entering a village, ten lepers met him.
They stood at a distance from him and raised their voices, saying,
"Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!"
And when he saw them, he said,
"Go show yourselves to the priests."
As they were going they were cleansed.
And one of them, realizing he had been healed,
returned, glorifying God in a loud voice;
and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him.
He was a Samaritan.
Jesus said in reply,
"Ten were cleansed, were they not?
Where are the other nine?
Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?"
Then he said to him, "Stand up and go;
your faith has saved you."


Leprosy was a terrible disease; terrible not only because it destroyed the body but also because its victims were separated from their families and society. There were very strict laws that prohibited lepers from mixing with “healthy” folks. Imagine the suffering of lepers!
In today’s gospel we read of the 10 lepers who were healed by Jesus. Leprosy was possibly the most terrible affliction that could befall some one in the time of Jesus. Not only was it an incurable disease but those who contracted it were cut off from all society. They had to leave their families, gather with other lepers and broadcast to anyone who came near them that they were “unclean” so that everyone would stay away from them. Being cured of this disease was more than just a miracle restoring their health. It also restored their entire social life. They could be with their family, their friends and go back to their jobs.

In today's gospel, as Jesus entered the lepers village they cried to Him, "Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!" Leprosy, at that time, was possibly the worst affliction a family could endure. Lepers were ostracized from the entire community and had to stay away from any contact with healthy individuals because the disease was very contagious. These lepers had to leave their wives, children and friends. They had to leave the village and lead a life of loneliness, waiting for their death.
It is easy to forget at times what it meant to be a leper in Jesus’ time. Such a person had to separate himself from the community, live outside the town, and declare himself “unclean” when anyone approached him. According to the Jewish mentality of the time, illness was a punishment for sin. If you had leprosy, you were considered a terrible sinner. So, as miserable a state as leprosy was, worse still was the shame of it all.
Leprosy is loneliness, it is isolation, it is anger, it is helplessness, a sickness of the body that becomes a sickness of the spirit. The Jews believed God sent it as a punishment that the sufferer was imbued with something heinous in his genetic or familial makeup, something that deserved this great punishment. In other ages, there was Bubonic Plague or Diphtheria; but those diseases, although terrifying, mercifully killed their sufferers. Leprosy left a person alive, in a living death.
And into the hopeless lives of ten lepers came the Son of God, the sign of life itself heading for Jerusalem to triumph once and for all over death of the body, and in so doing to give eternal life to the spirit.
What is the leprosy in our communities, in our lives that Jesus can heal?
Check newspapers, magazine and popular TV shows the last few months. Is dysfunctional a word that was around twenty years ago? I remember reading a column in the newspaper where a young woman who had sought career advancement and material success and then realized that all she wanted was a lifetime commitment to a man who loved her. I have listened to the young couples who wish to marry but don't want to have kids until "we're financially established, and get to know each other, and get to do the things we want." I have read the surveys taken among adolescents in upper middle class private schools who claim that their parents don't really love them. Read “Beer and Circus” by the Indiana Professor who vilifies public universities for providing sensual titillation rather than education for young men and women. And listen to high school students talk about college as a "life experience." While the police speak of unchaperoned high school beer parties; or worse yet parties where parents provided the alcohol for the children of parents who would not want their children to break the law. Can we all look into our lives and find the sleaziness of television fare, the social pressure, the financial pressure, the school achievement pressures, the mid-life crisis? You wouldn't have to go far to find a psychiatrist who would admit that some families today are sick, are in need of healing.
Is there loneliness in our busy worlds in our families? Is leprosy loneliness?, Are our neighbors or family members isolated from us or from those around them? Is that a leprosy?. What kind of angers keep coming back again and again in our lives? Is our anger a leprosy Are there people in our lives who seem to be helplessly enmeshed in difficulty? Who seem to be calling out for help as a leper would call? Has the spiritual illness prevalent in the outside world infected our families? What are we doing about it? Do we wander around in our caves failing to listen to the stories we hear of this Jesus of Nazareth who has the power to heal our sickness? Do we sit in our pain and isolation failing to hope in the Lord? Or do we cry out from afar in our leprosy to the Lord to save us? Do we have faith in the Lord when we call him and when he answers, "go, do what I have commanded." Do we walk off as the lepers did to show ourselves to the priest but believe our leprosy is still with us.? Notice that in the gospel reading Jesus asks the lepers to prove their faith in action. And if and when the sores and scabs leave us as Jesus sends his healing grace upon us, do we immediately run back to him forgetting our own self-interest? Jesus will heal the leprosy in our lives.
In the Gospel Reading, Jesus felt obliged to perform the miracle of curing these ten lepers; they really believed he could do it. That is why Jesus so hastily tells them to go to the priest, as prescribed by the law, and have their return to health officially recognized. Thus their banishment and disgrace would end. However, in their burst of joy, nine of the cured ten forget to say, “Thank you.” At first, it seems strange to us that they would omit this, after being transformed in one moment from utter misery to a clean bill of health. However, we often do the same; we forget to give thanks in the joy of a moment when someone has really helped us or resolved a major problem for us.
It does occur to one leper, a foreigner, to return to thank Jesus; he is a Samaritan. Jews and Samaritans normally despised each other in Jesus’ time, which probably makes his words of thanks to Jesus all the more remarkable. However, what really catches Jesus’ attention is the fact that only one person comes back to express his words of gratitude. Doesn’t this passage remind us of how rare the virtue of gratitude is in the human heart?
It would seem that being cured of leprosy would be the greatest gift a person could receive. There was no cure, no hope. One would think that every leper who had been cured would seek out Jesus and thank Him profusely. He had allowed them to return to their wives and their children. He made it possible for them to mingle with the their friends and neighbors in the village. Not only that but he lengthened their life span by many years. And yet, only one man returned to thank Jesus. Jesus Himself was stunned. He said, "Ten lepers were cleaned were they not? Where are the other nine?"
What Jesus seems to be saying is that if one receives any gift, he should at least say, "Thanks!" But nine of the cured lepers didn't even do that.
Of course, whenever Jesus spoke He wasn't just speaking to those around Him. He was speaking to all of us, for all time. He was speaking to us here in the 21st century. Now, we might say, "Well, I've never had leprosy and I don't know of anyone else who has contracted the disease. So, this message doesn't really apply to me!"
Well, let's think about that. True, we haven't had leprosy and Jesus knew that we in America probably would never have to worry about such a disease. How then is He speaking to us through this parable and what is His message to us?
The life of a leper was painful and lonely. Those who were not afflicted by the disease had much to be thankful for. They shunned any contact with the lepers and continued to live their comfortable lives. Only Jesus remembered the lepers and cured them.
When one thinks of our modern society we sometimes forget that there are millions of people in our world who have the same difficulty these lepers endured.
Hundreds of thousands of people in the third world die each year because of a lack of food, abortion causes the death of millions of unborn children, wars take a deadly toll on thousands of others, including our own men and women in the armed services.
And so what is Jesus saying to us, today? What did he expect from the ten lepers? Did He expect they now give up everything and follow Him? He didn't mention that to the one who returned to thank Him. He didn't expect they perform any extraordinary show of gratitude. What did He expect? He expected their gratitude. He expected each of them to say, "Thanks, you have given me a gift which I have not earned. You have blessed me and I can only thank you with all of my heart." And Jesus let the villagers know by His response to the one who did thank him by saying, "Has none but this foreigner (a Samaritan) returned to give thanks to God?"
So, what is His message to us? As we consider the blessings we have received here in our country, I think it would be proper to say that even the poorest of us have been blessed by God beyond our imagination. Of course, some might say, "Well, we don't have a million dollars in the bank and we don't have some of the luxuries others have." That's true! However, the majority of the world's population has far fewer blessings than we enjoy. Most of us are well fed. We live in relative safety and have magnificent health programs. We have to admit, "God has blessed all of us and, individually, we should do something to say "Thanks" to Him.
To the young people....... Millions of your counterparts in the rest of the world don't have enough to eat, they live in housing conditions we can't even imagine, they have no opportunities to go to schools, no jobs when they get older. So, what does Jesus ask of you? He simply asks, "Is there only one in ten who have given thanks to their God for the blessings He has bestowed upon you? All of us, young and old, cannot imagine what our lives would be like if we had been born and lived in China, Iraq, many parts of Africa and South America.
And if Jesus were here today, would He make great demands upon you and me? I don't think so. I believe He would say to us what he said to the crowd, "You have been (cleansed) blessed. All I ask is that you recognize what you have been given and be grateful for the gifts." How can we be grateful? As Jesus has said,
Love one another as I have loved you!
Let's think about what we have been given and let us follow the example of the Samaritan. What did he do? "Realizing he had been healed, he returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked Him."
When we think of how we have been blessed, whether we are young or old, I believe we should consider the words of Jesus, "Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?' He blesses us because He loves us. We thank Him, praise Him and keep His Commandments because we love Him. It's the least we can do!

We find today in our Gospel reading the narrative description of miraculous healings, and such healings are vivid signs that make present the Kingdom of God. Unfortunately now a day, when we talk about signs we tend to look at them as some sort of extraordinary event without looking sometimes at the whole picture where God is present.
It is true that we find in Sacred Scripture a number of miraculous events that imply an alteration of the normal course of Mother Nature. However, God’s living Word is not limited as some people may think. The entire Bible talks about the creation of the world and its Creator, and of His living presence in the world and its circumstances. It is also true that sometimes the living presence of God is seen clearer when events develop in a different way than normal.
Jesus’ miracles, such as the miraculous healing of the ten lepers in today’s Gospel, have the intention to confirm what the disciples themselves witnessed: the extraordinary power of God alive and present in Jesus and in history. All of these miraculous signs have their origin in God and they point to God, so that we—guided by these miraculous signs—may participate of God’s Kingdom here on earth.
Every human being is called by God to be saved in Christ, to count on Christ, who is present among us here on earth. Every event, and every circumstance, no matter how insignificant it may look, has the purpose of helping us to have an attitude of faith. A faith that is required in order to allow God helps us in our needs. God is the one who is constantly asking us, what can I do for you?
If we allow the circumstances of daily life to reveal God to us, and return to God over and over, then we will become like the only leper who returned to Jesus in order to thank Him for what He did for him. That man was able to discover in that healing a sign of salvation due to the faith he had.
All of the good and holy that we may accomplish in life will lead us to God, but it is important to have faith. If we believe, instead of listening to ourselves alone, we will be listening to God who is calling us everyday. God is not far away from us, but extremely close.
The healed leper that returned to give thanks to Jesus was the only person who discovered God in that miracle. The other nine lepers only experience the miracle and went along in life ignoring what truly happened. However, God remains present within us and in our midst. That leper left everything behind and returned not only to give thanks, but he returned to Jesus, who is God. Is not this perhaps the beginning of a long conversion process? This is precisely the type of conversion to which all of us are called every day, because everyday we need the forgiveness of God for our sins. All we have to do is to return to God who is willing to freely share with us His infinite love and forgiveness.

If we examine our lives, we can see God’s hand in so many instances and “close calls.” We all have been touched by Jesus. Have our lives changed as a result of the encounter? Are you like one of the nine: superficial in your relationship with Christ except when you think you really need him? Or have you responded like the Samaritan: your life utterly changed and devoted to Jesus?
Some time ago, I read this imagined conversation between the Lord and the Samaritan in the Gospel:
"My dear Simon, so you came back. The only one to do so. The other nine have been declared clean by the priests, but I assure you their cure is only skin deep. Their leprosy is gone but nothing else about them has changed. After their bitter and hurtful experience they have returned to their own selves. They have not benefited from the slightest from what they have been through. They are the same old people with the same hard attitudes, mean ways, selfish habits, worldly concerns, shallowness and superficiality of life. They never suspect that a person can have inner leprosy as well. I mean leprosy of mind and heart. They are still suffering from that and it is unlikely that they will ever be cured of it. They are not even aware of it. But you, Simon, are a new man. Your cure is not skin deep. It has reached into your mind and heart. Stay like that and you'll never forget this day. Go in peace now, and, by the way, thank you for thanking me."

Harry Ironside, the great American Bible teacher, went into a crowded restaurant to have a meal. Just as he was about to begin his meal, a man approached and asked if he could join him. Ironside invited him to have a seat. Then, as was his custom, Ironside bowed his head in prayer. When he opened his eyes, the other man asked, “Do you have a headache?” Ironside replied, “No, I don’t.” The man continued, “Is something wrong with your food?” Ironside replied, “No, I was simply thanking God as I always do before I eat.” The man said, “Oh, you're one of those, are you? Well, I want you to know that I never give thanks. I earn my money by the sweat of my brow and I don’t have to give thanks to anybody when I eat. I just start right in!” Ironside said, “Yes, you're just like my dog. That’s what he does too!”
There are many people in our society today who are just like Ironside’s dog. Such people believe they have earned every good that comes their way and, therefore, do not need to thank anyone or any God for it. They forget that the blessings that come into our lives are God’s blessings before they become our achievements. What did anyone do to merit being born alive while some people were born dead or were even aborted? What did you do to deserve loving parents while many people never had any? What did you do to have eyes to see, ears to hear, tongue to speak, feet to walk, that some people among us do not have? How much did you pay God to make you such an intelligent and beautiful person? Think of the many wonderful teachers, friends and relations that you have had and that you still have. We take our blessings for granted. Emerson once said that if the stars came out only once a year, everybody would stay up all night to behold them. We have seen the stars so often that we don’t bother to look at them anymore. How easily we grow accustomed to our blessings and forget to give thanks for them.
In today’s gospel Jesus heals ten lepers. Only one returns to give him thanks. Why didn't the nine lepers return? Here are some suggested reasons why the nine did not return:
One said, “I think we need to wait and see if the cure is for real, if it would last.”
One said, “Besides, there’s plenty of time to see Jesus later, if we need to.”
One said, “You know what: Maybe we never even had leprosy in the first place.”
One said, “There was no doubt in my mind that we would get well someday.”
One said, “I told you guys that if you think positively that you will be well, you will?”
One said, “Jesus didn't really do anything special; any rabbi could have done it.”
One said, “Now that we are okay, we do still need him?”
One said, “What we need now is the temple priest, the one who can declare us clean.”
One said, “Jesus said to go to the priest. He would be mad with us if we return to him now.”
You can see from these reasons that ingratitude often stems from selfishness and greed. Ingratitude is nothing but putting my need to get more before other people’s need to be complimented for what I have received from them.
Fortunately there is the tenth leper who says nothing but simply turns back to thank Jesus. He is a Samaritan, a foreigner. He cannot go to the priest because the priest would not minister to him. He does not belong to the “right” religion. He is regarded as a lawless sinner because he does not observe the Jewish Law. The nine Jewish lepers go to the priest because they want to fulfill the law. The lawless one follows his natural instincts and returns to Jesus to give thanks. Sometimes common sense is more accurate than the letters of the law in deciphering the will of God in particular situations. People who disregard common sense and reason and seek only to fulfill what the law or the man of God says often end up getting it wrong, like the nine lepers.

“Remember Jesus Christ!” exclaims St. Paul. Why do we let our fears and anxieties, our narrow-mindedness, our mundanity and profanity, our cynicism and skepticism, our vanity and self-concern take precedence over the blessedness of the memory of our beloved Jesus?
Do not forget Him, ever, in any place, in any moment, in any circumstance, however painful, however delightful.
Remember Jesus Christ and you yourself will be remembered by Him when He comes in his Kingdom.

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St. Ignatius of Antioch


(d. 107?)



Born in Syria, Ignatius converted to Christianity and eventually became bishop of Antioch. In the year 107, Emperor Trajan visited Antioch and forced the Christians there to choose between death and apostasy. Ignatius would not deny Christ and thus was condemned to be put to death in Rome.
Ignatius is well known for the seven letters he wrote on the long journey from Antioch to Rome. Five of these letters are to Churches in Asia Minor; they urge the Christians there to remain faithful to God and to obey their superiors. He warns them against heretical doctrines, providing them with the solid truths of the Christian faith.

The sixth letter was to Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, who was later martyred for the faith. The final letter begs the Christians in Rome not to try to stop his martyrdom. "The only thing I ask of you is to allow me to offer the libation of my blood to God. I am the wheat of the Lord; may I be ground by the teeth of the beasts to become the immaculate bread of Christ."

Ignatius bravely met the lions in the Circus Maximus.

Comment:

Ignatius's great concern was for the unity and order of the Church. Even greater was his willingness to suffer martyrdom rather than deny his Lord Jesus Christ. Not to his own suffering did Ignatius draw attention, but to the love of God which strengthened him. He knew the price of commitment and would not deny Christ, even to save his own life.

Quote:
"I greet you from Smyrna together with the Churches of God present here with me. They comfort me in every way, both in body and in soul. My chains, which I carry about on me for Jesus Christ, begging that I may happily make my way to God, exhort you: persevere in your concord and in your community prayers" (Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to the Church at Tralles).

posted by Mike Young @ 5:55 AM