Today’s readings deal with the theme of gratitude…of giving thanks. Actually the word “Eucharist” comes from the Greek word for “the act of giving thanks”. Our Eucharist is first and foremost an action of giving thanks to God.
The readings portray two remarkable foreigners. In the first reading we meet Naaman, a non-Israelite, a foreigner and a powerful commander of an ememy army. He comes to Israel seeking a mriacle cleansing of his leprosy, but he scoffs at the cure that is offered by the prophet Elisha. Although he needed encouragement, he finally follows the prophet’s words and is made clean and comes to faith and to believe in the God of Israel.
In the Gospel we meet a group of ten lepers whom Jesus cleanses. One of lepers was an outcast not only because of his leprosy but because he was, as well, a foreigner. And not just any foreigner, a Samaritan! As we know, the Samaritans were considered to be almost “sub-humans”, out-siders, not part of the “tribe” of Israel! And yet, it is a Samaritan leper who returns to give thanks to Jesus for curing him.
The actions of gratitude of the two foreigners are truly admirable, but the most remarkable lesson may quite possibly be found in the character of God. In the healing of both foreigners, complete “outsiders”, we see the universal scope of God’s salvation. For each of these foreigners came to faith through God’s amazing love for them that brought them healing. And given the “social outcasting” nature of their disease, they were not just physically healed, but healed deep in their souls as they were restored to their families and their communities from whom they would have been estranged due to their leprosy.
In both instances, we are shown that God’s love and salvation has no ethnic or racial boundaries or borders. God’s love is universal and is without limits.
The only fitting response to God’s wondrous, limitless love for us is a joyful thanksgiving and a willingness to emulate this love and healing by following Jesus’ example in the way we choose to live our daily lives and embrace our sisters and brothers, regardless of their status in our lives. A pretty tall order, but nonetheless, the call of the the Gospel, a life of sacrifical love of other.
Jesus calls us to reach out to the leper, to the lost, the lonely, the outcast and the immigrant and the refugee…to all those denied justice and whom the world despises and “makes other” that we are to make sister and brother!
In the midst of all of the chaos that swirls around us and all of the “othering” that is happening in our country at this moment…we are called to embrace those who are being attacked and marginalized…to be the loving arms of our God present in the midst of hatred, violence, racism and misogyny. And to be voices of compassion and inclusion, speaking out to our elected leaders demanding they protect the poor and vuneralble of our society.
We must demand our elected leaders protect all those who are threatened with political retaliation, threatened because of the color of their skin or their political ideology, threatened because of who they love or where they were born or because of their religious affiliation. The Gospel demands us to speak out on behalf of all those whose lives and rights are being threatened, in obvious as well as in more insidious ways.
As we continue to reflect on this weekend’s readings, let us ask ourselves: what am I grateful for in my life? Who are the lepers, the outcasts, the marginalized that I see in my life that I am called to open up my arms and embrace? And how can I embrace them?
Blessings on the journey,
Fr. Tim
The readings portray two remarkable foreigners. In the first reading we meet Naaman, a non-Israelite, a foreigner and a powerful commander of an ememy army. He comes to Israel seeking a mriacle cleansing of his leprosy, but he scoffs at the cure that is offered by the prophet Elisha. Although he needed encouragement, he finally follows the prophet’s words and is made clean and comes to faith and to believe in the God of Israel.
In the Gospel we meet a group of ten lepers whom Jesus cleanses. One of lepers was an outcast not only because of his leprosy but because he was, as well, a foreigner. And not just any foreigner, a Samaritan! As we know, the Samaritans were considered to be almost “sub-humans”, out-siders, not part of the “tribe” of Israel! And yet, it is a Samaritan leper who returns to give thanks to Jesus for curing him.
The actions of gratitude of the two foreigners are truly admirable, but the most remarkable lesson may quite possibly be found in the character of God. In the healing of both foreigners, complete “outsiders”, we see the universal scope of God’s salvation. For each of these foreigners came to faith through God’s amazing love for them that brought them healing. And given the “social outcasting” nature of their disease, they were not just physically healed, but healed deep in their souls as they were restored to their families and their communities from whom they would have been estranged due to their leprosy.
In both instances, we are shown that God’s love and salvation has no ethnic or racial boundaries or borders. God’s love is universal and is without limits.
The only fitting response to God’s wondrous, limitless love for us is a joyful thanksgiving and a willingness to emulate this love and healing by following Jesus’ example in the way we choose to live our daily lives and embrace our sisters and brothers, regardless of their status in our lives. A pretty tall order, but nonetheless, the call of the the Gospel, a life of sacrifical love of other.
Jesus calls us to reach out to the leper, to the lost, the lonely, the outcast and the immigrant and the refugee…to all those denied justice and whom the world despises and “makes other” that we are to make sister and brother!
In the midst of all of the chaos that swirls around us and all of the “othering” that is happening in our country at this moment…we are called to embrace those who are being attacked and marginalized…to be the loving arms of our God present in the midst of hatred, violence, racism and misogyny. And to be voices of compassion and inclusion, speaking out to our elected leaders demanding they protect the poor and vuneralble of our society.
We must demand our elected leaders protect all those who are threatened with political retaliation, threatened because of the color of their skin or their political ideology, threatened because of who they love or where they were born or because of their religious affiliation. The Gospel demands us to speak out on behalf of all those whose lives and rights are being threatened, in obvious as well as in more insidious ways.
As we continue to reflect on this weekend’s readings, let us ask ourselves: what am I grateful for in my life? Who are the lepers, the outcasts, the marginalized that I see in my life that I am called to open up my arms and embrace? And how can I embrace them?
Blessings on the journey,
Fr. Tim
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