The Gospel of Luke 17:11-19 On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”
Let us Pray: We pray today for those on the margins: The lonely, the sick, the stigmatized. May they know Your compassion, And may we be agents of Your mercy. Help us cross boundaries with love, To see the image of God in every soul. For in Your kingdom, the outsider is welcomed, And the forgotten are remembered. Amen.
If there was a single quality we could increase in our world today, it would be gratitude. As a people we need to understand and work on getting it right. If entitlement, envy, and resentment overcome our better sense of gratitude, generosity, and goodwill, the price could be high. We might not just be unhappy when we could be upbeat and positive. We might even one day realize we let evil slip in through the front door. People seem to expect entitlements and praise and not think about saying thank you. Being grateful doesn’t cost much, just a little time and a little appreciation. Research shows that grateful people experience higher levels of positive emotions such as joy, enthusiasm, love, happiness, and optimism, and that the practice of gratitude as a discipline protects a person from the destructive impulses of envy, resentment, greed, and bitterness. So why isn’t gratitude easy for us? Who doesn’t want to be happier and more successful? Gratitude, for all its merits, is not something easily embraced. We can see being gracious and thankful also wasn’t easy in Jesus’s time either. In the parable of Lazarus and the rich man, the rich man didn’t have any gratitude and concern about others and look at what it got him. And in the parable of the mustard seed and the servant where the servant owner expects the servant to perform the assigned task without any recognition or thanks. No gratitude toward him.
The story of the grateful Samaritan offers us another image of who and what matters to Jesus and should, therefore, matter to us. The marginalized seem well placed to see him for who he is as he has seen them for who they are.There are several takeaways from the story. The idea that gratitude is part of being “well” is certainly present. Only one out of 10 who were healed took the time to say thank you. It was only the Samaritan who returned to thank Jesus for his healing. But how is that evidence of faithfulness instead of thankfulness? Faithfulness is demonstrated in two ways. One, the Samaritan recognizes that mercy has come from Jesus, and returning to thank Jesus is a form of faithfulness to the mercy of God that has been made manifest; and two, the Samaritan’s thankfulness and gratitude for his physical healing shows evidence of deeper, spiritual healing, which is our true salvation. Anyone can experience God’s salvation, shout with joy for it, praise God for it and walk along the same road Jesus is travelling. Between Samaria and Galilee, there is only the kingdom of God, in which salvation is available to all who call out for mercy and respond to God’s call with thankfulness and praise.
And gratitude is an important component in our salvation. God grant that we will on occasion be thankful enough to be boisterously thankful. Thankful enough to throw ourselves at Jesus’ feet. And thankful enough to voice Jesus’ question as our own, “Where are the other nine?” and help them find their way home, too.
As we conclude let’s look at what this Gospel tells us. God’s mercy is for all. It matters not your status – rich or poor, sick, or well, men, women, children, people of all races. It is for all of us! Jesus is there when we cry out to Him for his mercy. Jesus delights in bestowing His mercy upon us. Jesus has compassion. God’s mercy will and should cause us to humble ourselves before Him. Will we be like the nine and go on our merry way because now things look so good for us, or will we be as the stranger who returned to Jesus after mercy was shown and fell at his feet with thanksgiving and gratitude for what He had done? Would Jesus tell each of us the same as he told the Samaritan:
“Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”
Let us Pray: Father in Heaven, Creator of all, and source of all goodness and love, please look kindly upon us and receive our heartfelt gratitude in this time of giving thanks. Thank you for all the graces and blessings You have bestowed upon us, spiritual and temporal: our faith and religious heritage, our food and shelter, our health, the love we have for one another, our family and friends. Dear Father, in Your infinite generosity, please grant us continued graces and blessing throughout the coming year. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
Reflections by Bob 