The Healing of the Ten Lepers

By Fr. Conor Donnelly

(Proofread)

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

My Lord and my God, I firmly believe that you are here, that you see me, that you hear me. I adore you with profound reverence. I ask your pardon for my sins and grace to make this time of prayer fruitful. My Immaculate Mother, Saint Joseph, my father and lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.

“Now it happened that on the way to Jerusalem, Jesus was traveling in the borderlands of Samaria and Galilee. As he entered one of the villages, ten men suffering from leprosy came to meet him. They stood some way off and called to him, ‘Jesus! Master! Take pity on us.’ When he saw them, he said, ‘Go and show yourselves to the priests.’ Now as they were going away, they were cleansed” (Luke 17:11-14).

Our Lord is met by these ten lepers, who understand their situation. They stood some way off. They were humbly aware of the things that they could do and couldn't do.

“They called out to him, ‘Jesus! Master! Take pity on us.’ When Our Lord saw them, he said to them, ‘Go and show yourselves to the priests.’”

On this occasion, Our Lord didn't do anything dramatic. He didn't lay His hands upon them. He didn't spit on the ground and touched them with a spittle.

He used certain channels: ‘Go and show yourselves to the priests.’ He wants to use certain external means in bringing about this miracle. And we’re told, “Now as they were going away, they were cleansed.” As they went on their way, they realized they had been cleansed.

There may be many things in our lives that we realize as we go along our way. as we fulfill our ordinary duties, or we go about our business doing the ordinary things of each day.

We realize, almost imperceptibly, that certain things have happened, that we are aware of certain graces or certain gifts. Or we look back over our life and we see a certain pattern. These are the silent and hidden ways in which God works in our life.

“Finding himself cured, one of them turned back praising God at the top of his voice and threw himself at the feet of Jesus and thanked him” (Luke 17:15).

One man, in particular, had a deeper realization of what had happened than the others; and not only had this realization, but he also wanted to go back and thank Our Lord. He realized it had come from Jesus.

He turned back, praising God at the top of his voice. He was really so grateful and fully aware of where this great grace had come from.

We're told: “He threw himself at the feet of Jesus.”

Whenever feet are mentioned in the Gospel, something very important is taking place. Mary poured the perfume over the feet of Jesus (John 12:3-8). Jesus washed the feet of the apostles (John 13:1-17).

Here we have this man making this profound act of thanksgiving. He didn't just shake Our Lord's hand and say, ‘Gee, thanks, that was great.’ He manifested with his gestures. And this man “was a Samaritan,” we're told.

“This led Jesus to say, ‘Were not all ten made clean? The other nine, where are they?’” (Luke 17:16-17).

It's like a symbol of ungrateful humanity: people who have not realized the gift or where it's come from. This parable is an invitation to us to lead a lifetime of thanksgiving. Towards the end of his life, Blessed Álvaro liked to say that he wanted to lead a lifetime of thanksgiving.

We can be thanking God for all sorts of things. A person said once that they lent Don Álvaro their glass case because he had forgotten to bring his glass case with him on a certain outing. About five times later that day, Blessed Álvaro thanked him for the use of his glass case.

We need to get into the habit of thanking people frequently for small little things that possibly are of little significance, or to go out of our way to thank people; and in particular, to thank God, because we have so many things to thank God for.

One of the purposes of the Mass is thanksgiving. If you look out for that sentiment of thanksgiving, you'll find it frequently reflected in the Eucharistic Prayers or in the Preface.

The Preface of weekdays says, “We do well always and everywhere to give you thanks.” Always and everywhere. Every single situation in our life is a good situation to thank God.

“You have no need of our praise, yet our desire to thank you is itself your gift. Our prayer of thanksgiving adds nothing to your greatness but makes us grow in our grace.”

In the first Eucharistic Prayer, it says, “We come to you, Father, with praise and thanksgiving...We give you thanks and praise.”

“We thank you for counting us worthy to stand in your presence and serve you.”

“All creation rightly gives you praise…We offer you in thanksgiving this holy and living sacrifice...”

“Father, we acknowledge your greatness,” we're told in the fourth Eucharistic Prayer. “All your actions show your wisdom and love.”

Our Lord wants us to have this spirit of thanksgiving. When that spirit of thanksgiving is missing, He notices. “Where are the other nine?”

It seems that no one has come back to give praise to God except this foreigner. Our Lord, who was well brought up and well-educated by His parents—by Our Lady and St. Joseph—He missed those little gestures of good manners and of gratitude.

We're shown that Our Lord was disappointed that only one of the leapers, the Samaritan, returned to give thanks. It's a reminder to us to cultivate the social virtues.

There's no mistaking that Our Lord was perturbed. A simple display of gratitude was the least those nine men could have done to show their appreciation for their miraculous cure. Our Lord did something wonderful for them and changed their life. But they took it all for granted.

We could go through our lives like spoiled children, taking everything for granted. Having a certain sense that ‘I deserve this’ or ‘I deserve that.’ A certain sense of entitlement. What a pity!

Jesus appreciates the gratitude of the humble and He's hurt by the coldness of the egoist. Gratitude is a mark of nobility and a strong bond of social harmony.

Giving thanks should be second nature to us because we receive countless gifts from other people, just as we provide countless favors in return.

St. Bede has written that the Samaritan in the Gospel was saved by his sense of gratitude (cf. St. Bede, in Catena Aurea, VI).

“Stand up,” Our Lord said to him, “Go on your way. Your faith has saved you” (Luke 17:19).

Our Lord was in no way indifferent to the practice of the social virtues.

One educationalist in the States says that there are four keywords or phrases that form the basis of social living: Please and thank you, I'm sorry, I was wrong. He also says that the whole of professional life is built up on those four phrases (cf. James Stenson, Conference Talk, Educating in Virtue, May 1996).

The social virtues are a means by which people demonstrate their respect for one another. They're a manifestation of interior refinement. People logically miss that little act of gratitude if they do some little service for somebody.

When Simon the Pharisee neglected to give Our Lord the customary forms of welcome, Our Lord noticed it. “‘You gave me no kiss of greeting, no basin to wash my hands or my feet’” (Luke 7:45). Our Lord didn't hesitate to complain publicly about this lack of good manners.

Very often our charity is manifested in good manners—not just in the things we say, but also in the way we behave. Certain things can irritate other people. It’s very important we try to learn how to function in different situations.

Throughout the course of His life and His preaching, Our Lord talked to us about the importance of friendship, cordiality, temperance, love for the truth, understanding, loyalty, industriousness, sincerity. He emphasizes the value of human virtues by the use of examples and parables from everyday life.

One of the great goals of parents with their children should be to cultivate the human virtues at every possible opportunity.

The human is also the basis of the supernatural. Jesus took care to form the apostles in the theological virtues, but also in human virtues such as sincerity (cf. Matt. 5:37) and magnanimity (cf. John 9:1-3).

He thought so highly of those human virtues that He was moved to say, “If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?” (John 3:12).

Christ was “perfect God and perfect Man” (Athanasian Creed), and so He exemplifies all the virtues.

There might be moments in our life when it could be difficult to say thank you to people. We might wonder, How can I thank this person for this? Possibly words are not enough. Gestures might be needed.

In some cases, there might be no human way that we can really thank people for what they've done for us: our parents, our mothers who carried us for nine months, went through eight hours or more of labor, taught us so many things.

There was a Protestant pastor once in Scotland, and one of his parishioners, a lady, wanted to show her appreciation so she gave him a present of a certain dessert, which he liked very much. The dessert was swimming in whiskey, which he also appreciated very much.

But she gave it anonymously to the place where he lived, so he didn't know who it had come from. But he really wanted to say thank you in some way.

He was thinking, ‘Maybe next Sunday at the service, I can thank people for this great gift.’ In particular, he wanted to thank for the whiskey, which he appreciated particularly.

But he knew that he couldn't mention the word whiskey because the congregation was very sensitive about these things. They were very much a temperate congregation.

He thought long and hard about how to express these words. Finally, he came up with a solution.

The following Sunday, at the end of his sermon, he said he wanted to thank very much that parishioner who so kindly gave him that wonderful gift the previous week. And he said, ‘What really made me so grateful and warmed the cockles of my heart in a particular way was the spirit in which it was given.’

We always have to try and work that spirit in which it is given. Our Lord is our exemplar when it comes to dealing with God and when it comes to dealing with others.

The life of Christ was summarized by His contemporaries: Bene omnia fecit–“He did all things well” (Mark 7:37). These words apply not only to His miracles, but also to His participation in ordinary affairs.

It would be wonderful if people could say the same thing about us, His followers in the middle of the world. We try to do all things well, and that hopefully people are happy with our expressions of gratitude for the small things of each day, the little favors that people do for us.

Or also, at times when maybe there's no real need to say thank you; maybe we're paying for a service. But everybody likes to be thanked for the things that they have done.

St. Paul writes to Titus and the Church at Crete about the importance of living the social virtues: “Remind them to be submissive,” he says, “to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for any honest work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy towards all men” (Titus 3:1-2).

These sorts of virtues help us to grow in our friendship, posture, respect for other people. These virtues make daily life more pleasant. It means we have to be able to speak to everybody.

There might be somebody with whom our chemistry doesn't quite jibe. In every group of people, there are some. But we have to be able to talk to everybody. ‘Good morning, how are you?’ ‘How are things?’ We might not have to talk to people for two hours, but we do have to greet everybody.

Our Lord has said, “Love your enemies” (Matt. 5:43-44). We might not have enemies, but there might be people in our circle of friends or professional life that we find a little bit more difficult to get on with. But we have to make the effort.

These virtues dispose the soul to a closer union with God and to a conscientious pursuit of the supernatural virtues. The Christian knows how to transform the practice of the social virtues into so many acts of love of God.

Charity ennobles, and elevates these actions to a higher plane. All love comes from God. God is love. We are called to witness to that reality, to show love in all sorts of ways and moments, through forgiving, through mercy, through patience, through kindness.

Mother Teresa says, “A few kind words cost very little, but their echoes are endless.” Gratitude is a human virtue that adds a great deal to social life. It consists of the affectionate recognition of a favor received.

We realize that somebody has done some little act of service for us, or has been kind to us, or said some kind words, which hopefully we realize that we don't deserve. All the glory to God.

Sometimes it's only possible to say thank you or respond with some similar expression. Our gratitude can be shown by the cheerfulness that we impart to the words.

St. Thomas Aquinas said, “According to the natural order of things, it is fitting that the recipient of a favor should respond with due gratitude to his benefactor” (Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, 2-2, Question 106).

To show our gratitude will very often cost very little. It's the least we can do to say thank you.

The effects of virtue can be manifold. It can contribute remarkably to a more friendly environment. Everybody loves to hear those sweet words, thank you. It livens up our day, soothes little pains or aches in our hearts, perhaps.

As we become more sensitive and grateful to other people, we can find ourselves reacting almost instinctively to the general welfare: that our house be clean and orderly, that our workplace be attractive and agreeable, that our appearance is neat.

If at any time we find things a little out of order, we make an effort to forgive and to forget. We should try and do our best to make life pleasant for others. Often those can be manifested in small details. Gentlemen should hold the door open for a lady. Allow them to go first in queues, especially to women with small children, or women carrying a child or who's pregnant.

We show our respect for life in subtle ways, but in beautiful ways, We can find all sorts of little things we can do to make that life pleasant for other people—even for total strangers.

Rather than giving in to a self-centered obsession with geometric neatness and absolute efficiency, we can also try to be thankful for the services which we pay for, as well as those services which are our due: we give thanks to the attendant who waits on us at the petrol station, or at the table, or wherever; or we show our appreciation to the bus driver as they wait patiently for us to get on board. We lift up the day of other people.

The social virtues find their culmination in an increased capacity for friendship with a wide variety of people. It opens the channels for a deeper relationship.

It would be wonderful if we could call everyone that we meet in the course of our day our friends—not just neighbors or colleagues or acquaintances, but friends. That would entail a genuine struggle on our part to be unselfish, understanding, optimistic, loyal, and eager to serve.

We need to live friendship within the family: among our brothers and sisters, with our children, with our parents. True friendship is not prevented by differences in age. Friendliness and true friendship are indispensable to apostolate.

The story is told that when Alexander the Great was on his deathbed, his relatives were persistently asking him: “Alexander, where are your treasures?”

He responded: “My treasures? They're in the pockets of my friends.”

When we die, our friends should be able to say that we shared with them everything that we possessed.

Mutual respect is also indispensable to social harmony. Faith teaches us that we have to respect other people because they're made in the image and likeness of God. They deserve our thanks and our respect.

Every single person on the planet “has been redeemed by the Most Precious Blood of Christ” (1 Pet. 1:18). That includes those that we might find very difficult to get on with or irritating for one reason or another.

This virtue leads us to respect all created things because they have come from the hand of God. We show our gratitude to God by using things well, using them for the purpose for which they were created, and in that way, everything and everyone can be treated in such a way that they give glory to God.

Another virtue which makes social life pleasant is affability. It can express itself in the form of a friendly greeting, a small compliment, a cordial gesture of encouragement. Everybody needs encouragement. St. Paul says, “Keep encouraging one another” (Heb. 10:25, 1 Thess. 5:11).

In particular, young people open their hearts amazingly with a few words of encouragement. It’s very good that we encourage people with a few kind words. And that virtue can lead us to overcome our inclination to be irritable, or make rash judgments, or to live as though other people didn't matter.

“Elizabeth's reaction of joy at the Visitation (Luke 1:39-56) emphasizes the gift that can be contained in a mere greeting, when it comes from a heart that is full of God.

“Very often, the darkness of loneliness that may be oppressing a soul can be dispelled by the shining ray of a smile and a kind word. We don't know how much that other person, maybe a young person, is living and waiting for that kind word.

“A good word is soon said; yet sometimes it can be difficult to utter. We are restrained, maybe by fatigue. We can be distracted by worries. We might be checked by a feeling of coldness or selfish indifference.

“It happens that we may pass by people, although we know them, without looking at their faces, without realizing how often they're suffering, and that subtle, wearing sorrow which comes from being ignored.

“A cordial word, an affectionate gesture would be enough, and something,” sometimes, “would at once awaken in them: a sign of attention and courtesy can be a breath of fresh air in the stuffiness of an existence oppressed by sadness and dejection. Mary's greeting filled with joy the heart of her elderly cousin Elizabeth” (John Paul II, Address, February 11, 1981).

That's how we can lighten the load of the people around us.

Another aspect of affability lies in the practice of kindness, in understanding towards the defects and mistakes of other people (we don't have to be constantly correcting people). It can be expressed in good manners evinced by our words and behavior, in sympathy, in cordiality, words of praise at an opportune moment.

“The spirit of sweetness is truly the spirit of God. It makes the truth understandable and acceptable” (St. Francis de Sales, Letters).

Parents and teachers have a great role to play in this: on the football pitch, on a volleyball court, in a tennis match, encouraging the sports person to do their best, congratulating them when they get a good shot or they play well, encouraging them when they fail.

We have to be very clear towards every aspect of evil; but at the same time, we have to deal kindly with our neighbor.

There's a story told about a truck driver. He once pulled over at a highway rest stop for a cup of coffee. He needed a break because he had many miles ahead of him. He sat at the counter and a young boy came to wait on him. The truck driver asked with a smile, “Busy day?” The young fellow looked up and smiled back.

Some months later, the truck driver returned to the same stop. Much to his surprise, the young fellow remembered him as if they were old friends.

The truth is that people have a great thirst for smiles. They have an enormous longing for cheerfulness and encouragement.

Every day we encounter a good number of people who await that momentary gift of our joy: something small that we can give to others that doesn't cost anything.

Through the practice of social virtues, we can open up many doors. We can't allow ourselves to be cut off from any of our neighbors or colleagues.

Our Lord wants us to do an effective apostolate of friendship and confidence. We need to introduce other people to the greatest of all gifts, which is friendship with Jesus.

If we get into the habit of thanking God more frequently, that may also open our eyes to all the great things that He has given to us. St. Josemaría in The Forge says, “Give thanks often to God, for through him, with him, and in him you are able to call yourself a child of God” (Josemaría Escrivá, The Forge, Point 265).

“Thank you, Lord,” he says, “because—as well as allowing me to be tempted—you also give us the strength and beauty of your grace so that we can win through! Thank you, Lord, for the temptations you allow us to have so that we may be humble!” (ibid., Point 313).

“The best way of showing gratitude to God,” we're told in The Forge, “is to be passionately in love with the fact that we are his children” (ibid., Point 333). We appreciate the gift.

We're told in Scripture, "if you knew the gift of God” (John 4:10), you'd realize the great things that we owe Him. We can ask Our Lord to open our eyes to many of the gifts that perhaps we've taken for granted.

An elderly Jesuit priest in Singapore told me how one time, at the age of 80 plus, he had to go for, I think, two cataract operations. It was the time before laser. The doctor told him that he wouldn't be able to see for three days.

He was wondering, ‘What will I do for three days?’ He said, “I've been 50 years a priest. I suddenly realized how much we priests need our eyes to say Mass, to read our Breviary, to give a class, etc., etc. And he said, I was thinking about all of these things. What will I do for three days?”

He said, “The following morning, the Gospel of the Mass was about the man born blind (John 9:1-41).”

He said, “I felt Our Lord was hitting me over the head with a baseball bat. ‘I've given you 81 years of sight. You're not going to be able to see for three days and you're complaining.’’’

Sometimes Our Lord opens our eyes to the greatness of the gifts that He's given to us. Where would I be if I didn't have this education or this formation? Or if I didn't have those parents, or those siblings, or those friends, or that experience, or that failure, or that illness, or that difficult situation?

You need to thank God for everything because everything is good. In the Mass, we're encouraged to lift up our hearts and souls and minds in thanksgiving.

We're also told in this parable how happy Our Lord was that that man came back (cf. Luke 17:18-19). Imagine if he hadn't come back. Our Lord would have been left with even a greater sadness.

We have the choice of being that leper who comes back or of being one of the other nine who went on their way oblivious.

We're told in The Forge, Point 891: “Be grateful to God from the bottom of your heart for those wonderful and awesome faculties he chose to give you when he made you—your intellect and your will. They are wonderful, because they make you like him; and awesome because there are human beings who turn their faculties against their Creator.

“It seems to me we could sum up the thankfulness that we owe as children of God by saying to this Father of ours, ‘Now and always, I will serve you! Serviam!’”

On some occasions when you see some animal acting funny—I saw a cow sitting down in the middle of a road recently, totally oblivious to the traffic all around him, the noise—you realize what it means to be an irrational animal, an animal without intellect and will.

We get a little bit of a glimpse then of what it means that God has given us—our intellect, to be able to think; and our will, to be able to love.

We see in Our Lady a great sense of thanksgiving. “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior” (Luke 1:46-47). Mary, may you help me always to grow and to develop a greater spirit of thanksgiving for all the wonderful gifts that God has given to me.

I thank you, my God, for the good resolutions, affections, and inspirations that you have communicated to me during this meditation. I ask your help to put them into practice. My Immaculate Mother, Saint Joseph, my father and lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

PKN