Sunday word, 13 Oct 19

28^th Sunday of the Year (13 Oct 2019)
2Kgs 5. 14-17; Ps 98; 2Tm 2. 8-13; Lk 17. 11-19

Homily of Fr. Paul Panaretos, S.J., Spiritual Exercises

Ever Faithful

Thanksgiving is tomorrow in Canada. The Word today joins gratitude and faith with two sobering reminders: faith is not always clothed in spectacular dress; and people of faith are not to expect thanks but to thank Christ, our model of faithful living.

Luke’s Gospel lets us notice healings by Jesus as effective signs of life in God’s realm. In the ancient Mediterranean world of Jesus leprosy was considered impossible for humans to heal; but the awaited Messiah could heal it. Leprosy also banished one from others. Living with leprosy was worse than death in a society for which community was most important.

Leprosy affected the valiant and the timid. Scripture recalled Naaman was valiant; he was an Aramean not a Jew; he was a leper. Naaman traveled from his king to the king of Israel; he expected a spectacular cure. To be told, Wash in the puny Jordan, angered him. If river washing was the way to a cure he could have stayed home and washed in far better rivers.¹

Wash Naaman did: not only was he healed; faith in the God of Israel joined a foreigner to God’s people. Scripture remembered Naaman.

In his homily at Nazareth inaugurating his Spirit-led ministry Jesus named Naaman and another foreigner. Toward both God had been gracious. That Jesus would minister to foreigners and not exclusively to his people enraged them.² Their hearts had grown puny and could not imagine God was faithful toward every human God creates.

Divine fidelity let St. Paul make his surprising turn on a traditional saying: endure and reign; deny and be denied, but human infidelity cannot limit God’s faithfulness.

Jesus embodied God’s faithfulness. He healed with no words. He recommended: Go, show yourselves to the priests who had been entrusted to certify healings of leprosy.³ The Samaritan leper alone sounded loud praise of God and returned to thank Jesus for healing him. Jesus only remarked the foreigner returned to give praise to God. Perhaps you and I need to note what Jesus did not do: he did not undo the healing of the other nine.

That is worth pondering. God is ever gracious to us even when we are ungrateful. This Thanksgiving we may notice our hearts are warmer, are more supple, and we are grateful for everything, even for what we so easily overlook.

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1. 2Kings 5.1-13. The verses immediate prior to the reading provide the context for the foreigner’s visit to the prophet of Israel’s God.
2. Luke 4.25-28.
3. Leviticus 14.1-9 included rituals as well as pronouncements.

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Wiki-images: Naaman cleansed. PD-US; Healing of 10 lepers PD-US