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“Jesus Heals the Ten Lepers”
by Caspar Luken, 1700 |
Readings
for the Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time [2]
Readings
from the Jerusalem Bible [3]
Readings and
Commentary: [4]
2 Kings 5:14-17
Naaman went down and plunged into the Jordan seven times
at the word of Elisha, the man of God.
His flesh became again like the flesh of a little child,
and he was clean of his leprosy.
Naaman returned with his whole retinue to the man of God.
On his arrival he stood before Elisha and said,
"Now I know that there is no God in all the earth,
except in Israel.
Please accept a gift from your servant."
Elisha replied, "As the Lord lives whom I serve, I will not
take it;"
and despite Naaman's urging, he still refused.
Naaman said: "If you will not accept,
please let me, your servant, have two mule-loads of earth,
for I will no longer offer holocaust or sacrifice
to any other god except to the Lord."
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Commentary on
2 Kgs
5:14-17
The story of Naaman, a military leader from the kingdom of Aram
who is afflicted with leprosy, prefigures the baptismal bath that washes us
clean from sin, and places the Holy Spirit within us. (The use of the number
“7,” the Hebrew number of perfection or completeness, indicates Naaman was
completely cured and cleansed.)
Naaman experiences this conversion of heart in the Jordan, a muddy
river (hence the reference to the mountain springs of Damascus) but cleansing
to the spirit. “Finally, learn the lesson provided by the book of Kings. Naaman
was a Syrian, and a leper, and there was no one who could cure him […]; he
bathed and, finding he was cured, he realized immediately that it was not the
water that cured him but the gift of God. He doubted prior to being cured; but
you, who are already cured, should not have any doubts" (St Ambrose, De
mysteriis, 12, 19).” [5]
Naaman takes two
mule loads of dirt from Israel, so he can erect an altar on Israelite soil in
his home country, that he might worship the God of Israel. While he recognizes
that God is ruler of all the earth, he also sees that Israel has a special
place in his eyes.
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Psalm 98:1, 2-3, 3-4
R. (cf. 2b) The Lord has revealed to the nations his
saving power.
Sing to the Lord a new song,
for he has done wondrous deeds;
his right hand has won victory for him,
his holy arm.
R. The Lord has
revealed to the nations his saving power.
The Lord has made his salvation known:
in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.
He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness
toward the house of Israel.
R. The Lord has
revealed to the nations his saving power.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation by our God.
Sing joyfully to the Lord, all you lands:
break into song; sing praise.
R. The Lord has
revealed to the nations his saving power.
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Commentary on
Ps
98:1, 2-3, 3-4
Psalm 98 is a song of praise and thanksgiving. We see in this selection how God is praised
for the strength he lends his people, and the salvation he brings to those who
are faithful.
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2
Timothy 2:8-13
Beloved:
Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of
David:
such is my gospel, for which I am suffering,
even to the point of chains, like a criminal.
But the word of God is not chained.
Therefore, I bear with everything for the sake of those who are
chosen,
so that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus,
together with eternal glory.
This saying is trustworthy:
If we have died with him
we shall also live with him;
if we persevere
we shall also reign with him.
But if we deny him
he will deny us.
If we are unfaithful
he remains faithful,
for he cannot deny himself.
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Commentary on
2 Tm
2:8-13
In the first line of this passage, St. Paul reminds St. Timothy
that Christ came fulfilling the prophecy that the Messiah would come from the
line of King David. The rhythmic language used would seem to indicate
this section is part of an early Christian hymn. As Paul states, this is
not an easy path, and Christians must endure trials. “'If we have died with
him we shall also live with him;' is not only mystical death in baptism
(see Romans 6:3-11) but also
refers to physical persecution (see 1 Corinthians 15:31; 2 Corinthians 4:8-11) also
'…martyrdom makes the disciple like his master, who willingly accepted
death for the salvation of the world, and through it he is conformed to him by
the shedding of blood' ('Lumen Gentium',
42)." [6]
He concludes with the promise that those who remain faithful will receive the
reward, but those who fall away will not be recognized by the Lord on the last
day.
CCC: 2 Tm 2:8 437; 2 Tm
2:11-13 2641
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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 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."
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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).” [7]
CCC: Lk
17:14 586; Lk 17:19-31 2463
-------------------------------------------
Reflection:
The
story of the Ten Lepers is a story that has a number of lessons to teach
us. It teaches us, for instance, that,
at the time Jesus walked among us, the Jews believed they alone could claim God
as their father. Presumably, the nine
lepers who left without accepting the miracle of healing were Hebrew (since
Jesus identified the one who came back to give him homage as a “foreigner”).
The
story also teaches us that through Christ we are united; washed clean and
adopted by God. It was his act of
healing that allowed all ten of the lepers to return to their people; they were
no longer outcasts. Just as Naaman was
consecrated to God as he was healed in the Jordan, so we are all united in the
baptismal bath.
There
is a third lesson to be found in this story.
It is provided by the Lord’s example.
I
want to tell you a story to illustrate this lesson, and for those of you who
know me well, let me just say this is a true story not just one created to make
a point. Four years ago, a group of
parishioners collected clothes for underprivileged children at a school down in
Mississippi. The clothes, school
supplies, and garden tools were donated by generous parishioners, St. Vincent
De Paul, members of the Christian Family Movement, and families of St. Thomas
School children. The organizers made the
long trek down (1600 miles round trip) in a rented U-Haul truck and delivered
the clothing to these children.
It
needs to be pointed out that the school to which this aid was given was not a
Catholic organization. Rather it was one
that claimed the “non-denominational” Christian focus. The people who delivered the aid were
welcomed by members of the staff and treated with respect and hospitality. However, when the time came for public
recognition by the head of the community, no mention of their actions was made,
nor was any credit given to the organizers or the faith community of St. Thomas,
that were the benefactors.
Do
you think that the ones who did not receive recognition for their acts of
charity responded the way Jesus did to the nine lepers who did not come
back? I tell you they did. The truly grateful members of that community
were the children and those directly responsible for them. The heartfelt gratitude and the outpouring of
love from those to whom the gifts were given washed away all feelings of being
slighted. Those who should have been
holding this action up as an example of the lived faith were like the nine
ungrateful lepers who went to show themselves to the rabbis as required by law.
The
parishioners that had worked and sacrificed to bring the clothing to those
needy kids rejoiced as they came back.
The ones they had gone to help had been helped in the Lord’s name.
Now
we ask a second question. Do you think
those responsible for the effort will do it again? They were, after all, not held up as servants
of Christ in front of the whole school and community by the leaders there. Do you think they will feel slighted because
of this and be reluctant to do the work again?
Did
Christ stop bringing the good news because those in authority rejected the
Gospel? Did Jesus turn his back upon the people of his day because the scribes
and Pharisees did not accept his authority?
That is one of the lessons of the Ten Lepers. Jesus did not cure them because he wanted
their adoration or their homage. He did
so for his father’s greater glory.
There
is an epilogue to this story. Since that
first trip this entire effort has been repeated twice more. Since that first trip, the leaders of the
school have come to realize and gratefully acknowledge the generosity of the
organizers and the St. Thomas faith community.
They have done so publicly and in writing which, while not the
motivating factor for the Christians who do this work of charity, is gratifying
to all who have helped.
So,
it must be with us. When we reach out to
those in need, we must do so without expecting gratitude for ourselves. All the good that we do is accomplished only
through God’s grace. It is he who made
us and gave us the gifts we share. So,
when we offer what we have to others and do not get an immediate “Gee, thanks,”
our thought should be one of gratitude to the Lord, for it was only by his
grace that we had what we offered.
One
final lesson we must not forget as we conclude our consideration of those Ten Lepers. We are like them. We too have become unclean at times, having
become separated from our Heavenly Father.
It is his outstretched hand of love and compassion that invites us back
through the sacrament of reconciliation.
As we consider those ungrateful lepers, let us ask ourselves how many
times we smugly walked away from the confessional thinking, “now I’m clean,”
without giving heartfelt thanks to the Lord.
How many times have we thought: “Lord, I’m sorry for having sinned, but
only say the word and I shall be healed,” without the profound gratitude of that
Samaritan leper?
The
story of the Ten Lepers gives us much to think about as we strive to follow the
way the Lord directs us. As we walk
forward today, we ask ourselves do I walk with the Lord or with the nine
ungrateful lepers?
Pax
[1]
Catechism links are taken from the
Homiletic Directory, published by the Congregation for
Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 29 June 2014.
[2]
The picture used is “Jesus Heals the Ten Lepers” by Caspar Luken, 1700.
[3]
S.S. Commemoratio[4]
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 republication is not authorized by USCCB and is
for private use only.
[5]
The Navarre Bible: “Joshua-Kings” (Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2003),
529.
[6]
The Navarre Bible: “Letters of St. Paul” (Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, ©
2003), 595.
[7]
NAB footnote for Luke 17: 11-19.
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