Dear Brothers and sisters in
Christ Jesus the liturgy of the day invites us to be people of Faith who are
spontaneous and grateful. The gospel reading of the day begins with, Jesus on
his way to Jerusalem, a destiny where he would fulfill the purpose of his life,
a purpose for which he came as human.
(Wis 6, 1-11 & Lk 17, 11-17)
On
this journey meets a group of lepers who were desperate. Leprosy then as you
know was the most feared disease and was believed to be the outcome of sin. They
were banished as outcastes and lived outside the camp, alone. It was believed Leprosy could be cured by God and his power alone.
Thus meeting a group of people who were desperate to
be liberated and the spontaneous act of Jesus tells us that he was ever on his
mission. And his mission as Lk 4, 16-20 tells us ‘ to proclaim the liberty to the
captives and let the oppressed go free.’
Discerning
God’s will daily and responding to the signs of the times spontaneously, as in
the case of Jesus, will also help us to fulfill the purpose for which we are
created.
·
Lepers from their part took initiative
to approach Jesus for mercy and healing. Their cry wasn’t merely for physical
healing, rather for Spiritual healing too.
· They believed and obeyed whatever
Jesus said and this is a classical example for faith. Jesus didn’t heal them
immediately instead asked them to go and show themselves to the priest. Without
the second word they went on their way and
as they were going, they were healed. Isn’t faith like entering into a dark
room, without knowing what lies inside but still with a hope that Our Lord is
with us even amidst darkness? Faith is a
leap into the dark.
Finally the virtue of gratitude is stressed here in
the reading. My question here is what’s wrong did the 9 other lepers do who did
not return? Did they not follow what Jesus told them?
We
need to understand here that when one is in Christ, he is spontaneous and gratitude
was the spontaneous act of the Samaritan. The other 9 listen to the words of
Jesus where as the Samaritan, understood the spirit of Jesus words and returned
to him praising God. According to St Ignatius the purpose of our lives is to
praise, revere and serve God.
To put things together, on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus’
the Messiaship is unveiled and the Messiah embraces the lowly and the neglected of the society.
Vatican
II Document – LG 13 clearly states that all are invited to be the new people of
God and Pope Francis in his apostolic Exhortation clearly mentions that no one
is excluded from the Joy brought about by Christ.
During this Eucharist let us ask for the grace to
accept everyone in our lives irrespective of their background in an ever growing
intolerant scenario and to respond spontaneously to the needs/ signs of our
times. Amen.
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