Reading 1
Wis 6:1-11
Hear, O kings, and understand;
learn, you magistrates of the earth’s expanse!
Hearken, you who are in power over the multitude
and lord it over throngs of peoples!
Because authority was given you by the Lord
and sovereignty by the Most High,
who shall probe your works and scrutinize your counsels.
Because, though you were ministers of his kingdom, you judged not rightly,
and did not keep the law,
nor walk according to the will of God,
Terribly and swiftly shall he come against you,
because judgment is stern for the exalted–
For the lowly may be pardoned out of mercy
but the mighty shall be mightily put to the test.
For the Lord of all shows no partiality,
nor does he fear greatness,
Because he himself made the great as well as the small,
and he provides for all alike;
but for those in power a rigorous scrutiny impends.
To you, therefore, O princes, are my words addressed
that you may learn wisdom and that you may not sin.
For those who keep the holy precepts hallowed shall be found holy,
and those learned in them will have ready a response.
Desire therefore my words;
long for them and you shall be instructed.
Gospel
Lk 17:11-19
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.”
Meditation: Luke 17:11-19
If the Samaritan leper in today’s reading could have written in his diary about the day Jesus healed him, it just might possibly read something like this:
“No one will believe what just happened to me! My open sores and decaying skin have been completely healed. All the numbness is gone, and I can feel again! I was so sick for so long, but now I am perfectly fine! I can’t help but jump and dance with joy!
“As awesome as it is, though, my healing seems to go far beyond the physical. For inside my very self, I feel changed and restored. The unlimited mercy and the unconditional and unmerited love of God have been poured out upon me, and my heart is filled to the point of bursting! I am filled with gratitude and thanksgiving to Jesus for what he has done.
“I can do nothing now but return to the One who healed me and give him thanks. But even that doesn’t seem to be enough. I want to get to know this fellow, follow him and his disciples, and learn all I can from him about the God whose love he poured into my heart.”
Very few, if any, of us will need to be healed from leprosy, but we are all in need of other forms of healing. Perhaps we don’t recognize this need, as we have been formed by the world to look only to our physical well-being. Perhaps, too, we have simply accepted and settled for an easier version of the Christian life—one that doesn’t demand change but doesn’t promise much transformation either. Or maybe it could be that a lack of openness to God may be limiting our experience of the many healings that he wants to give us.
Take some time today to review all that Jesus has done in your life. Let yourself be amazed—like the fellow in today’s reading—at his kindness, mercy, and generosity toward you. Then, open your heart to let Jesus fill you today with even more of the grace that he has already given you.
“Lord Jesus, you want to heal us just as much as you did when you walked the earth! Help me to seek the grace necessary for these healings to take place. Fill me, Lord, with awe at what you have already done.”
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