Gospel
As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem,
he traveled through Samaria and Galilee.
As he was entering a village, ten lepers met him.
They stood at a distance from him and raised their voice, saying,
"Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!"
And when he saw them, he said,
"Go show yourselves to the priests."
As they were going they were cleansed.
And one of them, realizing he had been healed,
returned, glorifying God in a loud voice;
and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him.
He was a Samaritan.
Jesus said in reply,
"Ten were cleansed, were they not?
Where are the other nine?
Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?"
Then he said to him, "Stand up and go;
your faith has saved you.”
Reflection:
“And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked Him.”
In this Gospel passage Jesus encounters ten lepers (ten people). They wanted something from Jesus; they needed something from Jesus. What did they need or want? Healing. What key thing must a person possess in order to have healing? Faith. What about the one who comes back, what is that all about? Thankfulness.
These were the questions and answers that came up during our family discussion on this Gospel passage. These are the usual answers that come to mind. But as we go deeper into the scripture and actually ask questions and talk about what was actually going on, we find there is more.
Jesus hears the pleas, of the ten, for help. He tells them to “go and show themselves to the priests”. And they actually go. They trusted in his words, they had faith they could be healed. “And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him.
I remember being taught on this Scripture and hearing that this individual actually came back and worshiped! He was in Eucharistic worship, praising and thanking Jesus. Eucharist means thanksgiving. How beautiful to imagine actually being at the feet of Jesus/ The Holy Eucharist and giving thanks and praise.
We can still do this today. Many of our Catholic Churches have set times that you can go to Adoration. Pick a Catholic Church and look on their website to find times. Let us be Eucharistic and be thankful, and pray for Priests.
God bless you all.
