Samaritan Leper

They had heard reports that Jesus already cured someone from leprosy, and so they address him as Master to reflect their belief that Jesus has the authority to heal. But, Jesus did not say, “Be made clean,” so that “the leprosy left them immediately” (Luke 5:3). Instead, he tells them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests,” sending them off unhealed.

As they were going they were cleansed.” Luke 17:14

When God says “Go” that’s a complete sentence.

As they went, the blessing came—they were cleansed.

Also, in our First Reading, Elisha instructs Naaman to wash in the Jordan seven times. Naaman was expecting hands-on treatment and goes away angry, but he is told by his assistant to follow the simple instructions of plunging into the Jordan river seven times, and only then Naaman was healed.

The lesson for us-- They are healed, but only in the course of their acting with obedience and faith.

One of the ten lepers, realizing that he had been healed, started praising God publicly in gratitude and thanksgiving-- that is the biblical model; it’s not stay at home and thank God privately.

Naaman had been converted to Israel’s God and he asked that that Lord forgive him when he goes with his master to worship at the temple of Rimmon. Elisha seems uninterested and sends him off in peace. Why? Because Naaman asks for two mule-loads of earth, holy ground, to be carried back to his foreign country so he could stand on it and pray to the true God. God looks at the heart to see if we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior.

The louder you called for help, all the louder you should praise God publicly.

The Eucharist is public thanks! Jesus is the true God. Live our lives in perpetual thanksgiving and praise.

The Samaritan leper who was healed personally thanked Jesus. The Greek word used to describe his giving thanks is the word that is translated as Eucharist.

The lesson- It is one thing to feel grateful; it is another thing to express it. A clear lesson is that Jesus expects us to show gratitude, publicly, in the Mass. The Third Commandment says keep holy the Lord’s Day, which is why there is a Sunday Mass obligation. If you stay at home and think that you can thank God privately, you are deceiving yourself.

Romans 1:21 "For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened."

We like the good things that we get in this world, but we do not associate them with Jesus’ healing presence in the Eucharist.

This Samaritan, after receiving a healing through the mediation of Jesus, returns to worship God at a new place, at the feet of Jesus. At the foot of the tabernacle. At the foot of the Sacrificial Eucharistic Altar. As for being at someone's feet, this is always a way of acknowledging authority.

There is no deficiency on the part of Jesus. All lack is on our end of the equation if we deliberately skip Sunday Mass. The Samaritan leper thought to himself: The certification process of verifying the healing by the priest could wait. Right now is the time to offer testimony and praise!

Everything else can wait.

2. “Where are the other nine?”

Speaking of one out of ten. I read that nine out of ten husbands agreed that their wives are always right. The tenth one hasn’t been seen since the study as conducted.

Only one out of ten remembered to say, “Thank you.” Only one of them postponed his return home and took time to give thanks.

In a sermon by Robert Massey, he points out what might have been going through the minds of the nine unthankful lepers:

i. One waited to see if the cure was real.

ii. One waited to see if it would last.

iii. One said he would see Jesus later.

iv. One decided that he had never had leprosy.

v. One said he would have gotten well anyway.

vi. One gave the glory to the priests.

vii. One said, "O, well, Jesus didn’t really do anything."

viii. One said, "Any rabbi could have done it."

ix. One said, "I was already much improved."

Though ten lepers experience a miraculous healing, nine of them miss “salvation” because the “seeing” not the healing is decisive, the narrator intends a sharp critique of the belief in healing miracles—which cannot be identical with salvation itself.

There is an old saying in the spiritual tradition: where you stumble, dig for treasure. As you contemplate your spiritual leprosy, for which you have a daily reprieve, by God’s grace, use it as the vehicle that will bring you to God, especially at Sunday Mass, in thanksgiving.

Amen.