Twenty Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

LUKE 17:11-19
TEN WERE HEALED, AND ONLY ONE RETURNED TO GIVE THANKS TO GOD.
THIS IS A VERY FAMILIAR GOSPEL PASSAGE, AND I REMEMBER HEARING IT IN GRADE SCHOOL. IN THOSE DAYS, EVERYTHING IN THE MASS WAS IN LATIN, AND ON SUNDAYS, WHILE THE CELEBRATING PRIEST QUIETLY READ THE SCRIPTURES IN LATIN ANOTHER PRIEST WOULD READ THEM ALOUD IN ENGLISH. AND USUALLY THE SERMON FOR THIS PASSAGE HAD TO DO WITH HOW WE SHOULD BE THANKFUL. BUT EVEN WHEN I WAS SMALL THERE SEEMED TO BE SOMETHING A LITTLE OFF HERE. DOES JESUS REALLY CARE THAT MUCH THAT ONE PERSON OF THE TEN CAME BACK TO THANK HIM? I CAN SPEAK FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCE. DURING MY CAREER I'VE TAKEN CARE OF HUNDREDS OF CANCER PATIENTS, AND SOME OF THEM WERE CURED. ONCE IN A WHILE, SOMEONE WOULD THANK ME IN PERSON OR THROUGH A NOTE. IT GAVE ME A NICE FEELING. BUT I NEVER WONDERED ABOUT ALL THE PEOPLE WHO DIDN'T THANK ME. I TRULY WASN'T BOTHERED. I THINK THE STORY HERE IS DEEPER THAN THAT.
IN JESUS' TIME, THERE WERE ALL KINDS OF RULES ABOUT LEPERS, ALL DESIGNED TO SEPARATE THEM FROM THE REST OF SOCIETY. LEPROSY WAS KNOWN TO BE CONTAGIOUS; IT WAS HORRIBLY DISFIGURING; AND IT WAS VIEWED AS A PUNISHMENT BY GOD FOR SIN. A MAJOR TASK OF THE JEWISH PRIESTHOOD WAS TO DIAGNOSE LEPROSY, AND THE DETAILS OF WHAT THEY DID IS LAID OUT IN THE BOOK OF LEVITICUS. IF LEPROSY WAS DIAGNOSED, THE VICTIM HAD TO DRESS IN TORN CLOTHES AND COVER THE HEAD; FOR A MAN, THE BEARD HAD TO BE COVERED AS WELL. THERE WERE RULES ABOUT HOW CLOSE A LEPER COULD COME TO A HEALTHY PERSON, AND MOST TOWNS DID NOT ALLOW LEPERS WITHIN THE CITY LIMITS. THE LEPERS BANDED TOGETHER IN SMALL GROUPS TO SUPPORT EACH OTHER, AND THOSE THINGS WHICH SEPARATED HEALTHY PEOPLE, LIKE WHETHER YOU WERE A MAN OR A WOMAN, A JEW OR A SAMARITAN, DID NOT MATTER MUCH TO LEPERS. SOCIETY, AND THEY THEMSELVES, BELIEVED THAT THEY HAD NO PART IN THE KINGDOM GOD HAD PROMISED HIS PEOPLE.
TEN HAD FAITH. THEY CALLED ON JESUS, BELIEVING THAT HE COULD HELP THEM. THIS WAS A BOLD MOVE, SINCE LEPERS WERE SUPPOSED TO KEEP TO THEMSELVES. BUT THESE POOR SOULS BELIEVED THAT JESUS MIGHT BE THE ONE WHO COULD RESCUE THEM FROM THE HELL IN WHICH THEY FOUND THEMSELVES. AND THEIR FAITH WAS STRONGER THAN THAT. WHEN JESUS TOLD THEM TO GO AND SHOW THEMSELVES TO THE PRIESTS, THE FIRST STEP IN BEING ALLOWED TO REJOIN SOCIETY, THEY SET OFF; TRUSTING HIM; IT SAYS THAT THEY WERE HEALED ON THE WAY. YOU HAVE TO ADMIRE THEIR FAITH, REALLY. IT'S THE KIND OF FAITH WE SEE IN SAINT FRANCIS, WHO GAVE UP HIS INHERITANCE, EVEN THE CLOTHES ON HIS BACK, TO FOLLOW JESUS, NOT KNOWING WHERE HE WAS BEING LED. IT'S THE KIND OF FAITH OF MOTHER THERESA, WHO LEFT HER COMFORTABLE CONVENT TO MINISTER TO THE DYING ON THE STREETS OF CALCUTTA. MOST OF US HAVE THE KIND OF FAITH WHERE IF WE ARE SHOWN WHERE IT IS GOING AND THE CHANCES OF SUCCESS, WE MIGHT STEP OUT. THE LEPERS DID NOT RECEIVE THEIR HEALING, THOUGH, UNTIL THEY HAD DEMONSTRATED THEIR FAITH.
TEN HAD FAITH, BUT ONLY ONE RETURNED TO GIVE THANKS. WERE THE OTHERS UNGRATEFUL? I BELIEVE THEY WERE GRATEFUL. HOW DID LUKE KNOW THAT THE NINE WERE HEALED? I'M SURE THE STORY MADE THE ROUNDS, AND THE NINE WERE TELLING IT. MAYBE SOME OF THEM BECAME MEMBERS OF THE EARLY CHURCH. BUT OUR FOCUS IS ON THE SAMARITAN, THE ONE WHO DOES NOT GO AND SHOW HIMSELF TO THE PRIESTS, BUT REALIZING THAT HE HAD BEEN HEALED, TURNS BACK AND GOES TO JESUS. AND JESUS SAYS SOMETHING STRANGE TO HIM; “YOUR FAITH HAS SAVED YOU.” JESUS USES THE SAME WORD THAT IS USED ELSEWHERE TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE WORLD AT LARGE, AND THE CHRISTIANS, WHO ARE SAVED. THE SAMARITAN RETURNS TO JESUS, AND IN THIS WAY BECOMES A MEMBER OF THE PEOPLE WHO WILL BE SAVED BY JESUS' LIFE, DEATH AND RESURRECTION.
I THINK THAT IS THE LESSON HERE. HAVING FAITH IS A GIFT. SOME HAVE IT, SOME DON'T. FOR THOSE WHO HAVE IT, WHAT WE DO WITH IT VARIES. SOME SIMPLY BELIEVE IN CERTAIN PROPOSITIONS; OTHERS BELIEVE AND PRAY, AND STILL OTHERS BELIEVE AND PRAY AND ACT. WHAT WE DO WITH FAITH DEPENDS ON GOD'S GRACE AND OUR COOPERATION. BUT AGAIN, FAITH IS A GIFT, AND NO ONE CAN BRAG ABOUT FAITH.
SOME OF US ALLOW OUR FAITH TO MOVE US. WE TRY TO LEARN WHAT GOD HAS IN STORE FOR US. PART OF FAITH IS DISCERNMENT; SEEING WHAT HAPPENS AROUND US AND SEEING GOD'S WILL IN THAT. WE DON'T JUST SEE WHAT GOD WANTS US TO DO; WE ALSO THROUGH FAITH SEE WHAT GOD IS GIVING US. IF YOU HAVE FAITH, THEN YOU REALIZE THAT EVERYTHING IS A GIFT. IF YOU HAVEN'T GONE OUT AND ENJOYED ONE OF THESE BEAUTIFUL FALL DAYS THAT GOD GIVES US, I FEEL SORRY FOR YOU. BUT FOR A PERSON WITH FAITH, EVEN BAD THINGS ARE SEEN AS GIFTS. FAITH TELLS US THAT GOD WILL DRAW GOOD OUT OF EVERYTHING.
BUT ONLY ONE RETURNS TO GIVE THANKS. WE ARE GIVEN THE GIFT OF FAITH. FAITH MOVES US TO LEARN GOD'S WILL, AND TO DO IT. FAITH LOOKS AT OUR WORLD AND SEES HOW EVERYTHING FITS, EVERYTHING IS GOD'S DOING, EVERYTHING IS GIFT. BUT ONLY YOU AND I CAN TAKE THE GIFT AND USE IT FOR WHAT IT IS MEANT FOR – TO MAKE THAT CONNECTION WITH THE LIVING PRESENCE OF JESUS. THAT RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS IS WHERE WE ARE SAVED, AND FOR NINE, THEIR FAITH WAS IN VAIN, BUT FOR THE ONE WHO RETURNED TO GIVE THANKS, HIS FAITH SAVED HIM.
FAITH IS FROM GOD, BUT LOVE MUST BE FROM US. GOD LOVES US, BUT THE ONLY THING WE CAN DO IS TO CHOOSE TO LOVE GOD BACK. AND IT IS IN THAT LOVING GOD BACK, THROUGH LOVING GOD'S VERY PRESENCE AMONG US, JESUS CHRIST, THAT WE ARE SAVED.
I THINK JESUS SAW THIS; TEN HAD FAITH, TEN HAD BEEN HEALED, TEN WERE OFFERED MORE THAN HEALING, THEY WERE OFFERED SALVATION. BUT ONLY ONE TOOK JESUS UP ON THE OFFER.
DOES OUR FAITH LEAD US TO LOVE THE PERSON OF JESUS? JESUS WHO IS IN OUR NEIGHBOR, JESUS WHO IS IN THE HOLY EUCHARIST, JESUS WHO IS IN THE SCRIPTURES? HOW ARE WE RETURNING TO JESUS IN LOVE?
TEN HAD FAITH, ONLY ONE HAD LOVE.