Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Dear Friends,
The Gospel is a Gospel of miracles, and miracles are happening every day. In both the first reading and the Gospel we hear a testimony of healing. Jesus heals ten lepers out of His compassion and love for them. He does not touch them, nor does He ask them to perform any immediate action. His only command is: “Go and show yourselves to the priests.”
After they began walking, they were still lepers. They were still sick, still hurting, still in pain. Yet they obeyed the Lord’s command, uncertain of what would happen. How often are we invited into an action that we do not fully understand? We step forward not knowing the outcome… and only afterwards, looking back, do we see that we have been healed.
It is also worth noting that the one who returned, was a Samaritan. This is significant, because Samaritans and Jews were deeply divided, yet here we see remarkable humility. The Samaritan’s humility is shown in three ways. First, in his cry for mercy: he humbles himself before Jesus, a Jew, pleading for healing. Second, in his obedience: he follows the Lord’s command to go and shows himself to the priests, even without knowing what would happen. And third, in gratitude: he alone turns back, praising God and giving thanks an overflowing heart. This threefold humility: in asking, in obeying, and in giving thanks, becomes for us a model of how to approach Our Lord with trust and gratitude.
Similarly, in the first reading we have the story of Naaman. Naaman humbled himself and plunged into the Jordan seven times, he was cleansed of his leprosy. His skin became clean like that of a child. This physical healing, however, was only a prefigurement of something deeper — the true healing that God desires to accomplish within us. The same is revealed at the end of the Gospel. The point of these miracles is not simply to restore physical comfort so that life may go on as before. Rather, Jesus is revealing to the nations His saving power — not just the power to heal bodies, but the far greater power to save souls.
The question is: how do we respond once healing comes? Do we respond with joy and thanksgiving, proclaiming God’s goodness from the mountaintops? Or do we quietly slip back into ordinary life, waiting for the next hardship or difficulty to arrive?
This is the heart of the Gospel message: to respond to the good news of the Lord’s coming, and to acknowledge that He is Jesus Christ. To make Him the center of your life!
Let us place our trust in Him. As we continue to move forward, He will bring about greater healing. And let us never forget to turn back, to give thanks, and to glorify Him.
-Enrique Alegria, Drexel FOCUS Team Director