(Optional Memorial for Saint Albert the Great, Bishop and Doctor of the
Church)
 |
| "Jesus Heals the Ten Lepers” by Caspar Luken, 1700 |
Reading 1: Wisdom 6:1-11
Hear, O kings, and
understand;
learn, you magistrates of the
earth’s expanse!
Hearken, you who are in power
over the multitude
and lord it over throngs of
peoples!
Because authority was given
you by the Lord
and sovereignty by the Most
High,
who shall probe your works
and scrutinize your counsels.
Because, though you were
ministers of his kingdom, you judged not rightly,
and did not keep the law,
nor walk according to the
will of God,
Terribly and swiftly shall he
come against you,
because judgment is stern for
the exalted–
For the lowly may be pardoned
out of mercy
but the mighty shall be
mightily put to the test.
For the Lord of all shows no
partiality,
nor does he fear greatness,
Because he himself made the
great as well as the small,
and he provides for all
alike;
but for those in power a
rigorous scrutiny impends.
To you, therefore, O princes,
are my words addressed
that you may learn wisdom and
that you may not sin.
For those who keep the holy
precepts hallowed shall be found holy,
and those learned in them
will have ready a response.
Desire therefore my words;
long for them and you shall
be instructed.
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Commentary on Wis 6:1-11
The Wisdom author
instructs the rulers of the day, secular and religious. He tells them that God,
who is more powerful than they can imagine, requires them to rule justly and to
be compassionate in their rule, especially to the poor. He warns that if they are not, judgment
against them will be harsh.
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 82:3-4, 6-7
R. (8a) Rise up, O God, bring judgment to the earth.
Defend the lowly and the
fatherless;
render justice to the
afflicted and the destitute.
Rescue the lowly and the
poor;
from the hand of the wicked
deliver them.
R. Rise up, O God, bring
judgment to the earth.
I said: “You are gods,
all of you sons of the Most
High;
yet like men you shall die,
and fall like any prince.”
R. Rise up, O God, bring
judgment to the earth.
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Commentary on Ps 82:3-4, 6-7
Echoing the instruction from Wisdom 6:1-11 to
show compassion to the poor, Psalm 82 places the same warning on the
leadership. There is a stern warning that God’s judgment will be leveled
against those who abuse their power.
CCC: Ps 82:6 441
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Gospel Luke 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 voice, 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.”
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Commentary on Lk 17:11-19
The story of the Samaritan leper,
found only in St. Luke’s Gospel, reiterates Jesus’ ability to remove sins. Here
the Lord cures ten lepers, outcasts, who are viewed by the community as being
under God’s punishment. The Gospel is an indictment of the Hebrews who did not
recognize Jesus as the Messiah. Jesus’ comment: “Has none but this foreigner
returned to give thanks to God?” is a clear indication that this lack of
faith will have consequences. This is especially true when he follows this
statement with: “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you.” This would
seem to imply that those who refuse to accept Jesus’ status as the Christ would
not receive God's salvation.
“This incident recounting the
thankfulness of the cleansed Samaritan leper is narrated only in Luke's gospel
and provides an instance of Jesus holding up a non-Jew as an example to his
Jewish contemporaries (cf Luke 10:33 where
a similar purpose is achieved in the story of the good Samaritan). Moreover, it
is the faith in Jesus manifested by the foreigner that has brought him
salvation (Luke
17:19; cf the similar relationship between faith and salvation in Luke 7:50; 8:48, 50).”[4]
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Reflection:
Have you ever wondered about
the one leper who returned to Jesus to thank him for curing his illness? What makes his return remarkable is that he
was not Hebrew and therefore may not have been under the same rules as the
other nine that made them outcast. Hebrews were not even able to come close to
those who loved them. The favor the Lord
did for the tenth leper, while equal to the others in the physical sense, was
not nearly as beneficial in the social arena.
Yet he came back.
We wonder what brought
him. Was it Jesus’ compassion; was it
that he recognized something in the Lord that drew him? Where did he go once he left, having been
blessed with faith? We note the words of
Jesus: “Stand up
and go; your faith has saved you.” This one realized the magnitude of God’s
love. He came back praising God! He knew- do you see- he knew that Jesus was
of God.
The Jews who left
thought only that they were free of the awful disease and could return to
normal lives. They were anxious to get
to their priest so they could be certified as fit to return to the community
and take up their lives again. They
completely overlooked the more important aspect of what had taken place. They had been healed by God, freed from their
condition, but all they wanted was to get back to what they had been doing.
Before we condemn
them too harshly we should take an inward look.
Are we not just like them? Don’t
we frequently receive the sacramental grace that is Christ’s presence in our
lives, the healing of our souls, our bodies, our brokenness, and rush off to
continue our lives? What the Gospel
calls us to do is recognize and be grateful for the really important work
Christ accomplishes in us. We are called
to give thanks to God, like the tenth leper, for the grace God gives us.
Our prayer today is
that we can become like the tenth leper; full of awe and thanks to God, and that
we never take the Lord for granted or lose sight of what is truly important in
our lives.
Pax
[1]
The picture is "Jesus Heals the Ten Lepers” by
Caspar Luken, 1700
[3]
The readings are taken from the New American Bible with the exception of the
Psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for
English in Liturgy (ICEL). This
re-publication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[4]
See NAB footnote for Lk 17: 11-19
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