What A Wonderful World | November 11, 2015

 November 11, 2015

Sometimes youth ministry feels like a thankless job, but of course receiving thanks is not what motivates me. I do what I do because I love Jesus and I want to bring others to him where the real praise should resound. Today’s gospel speaks to this. Jesus heals ten lepers. The significance of healing lepers might be lost on us, but in the ancient Jewish faith it was a well-established fact that only God could heal leprosy. BAM! Jesus didn’t need to say, “Hey y’all, I’m God over here! Or “Don’t you know who I am?” All he needed to do was heal lepers to show that his authority was indeed the same as God’s. So now their faith was being tested…well, do you really believe that only God can heal leprosy or not? There are certain mysterious beliefs in our church that might also test our faith in a similar way, right? The Eucharist is one of them…well, do I really believe that the bread and wine are actually transubstantiated by the Holy Spirit during mass or not?

God LOVES to communicate with us through wonder-filled events, circumstances, miracles, and moments because he knows that our response to wonder is almost always laced with a surge of the soul toward the divine. The thing with wonderful moments is that they are usually surprising. This is one of the things I love most about God. Jesus was also a lover of surprise and he used it in his teaching regularly, most especially in the parables.

Back to the lepers…Jesus sent them to show themselves to the priests (in Jerusalem). Nine of them followed his instruction, but one rogue leper did not, how come? The narrative tells us that he was a Samaritan and because of that fact he had no need to go to Jerusalem, however, he did indeed show himself to a priest, didn’t he? Jesus was and is the great high priest and it took a non-religious Samaritan (Jesus’ favorite go to surprise character in several stories throughout the gospels) to acknowledge him as such. It says that, “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.” He praised God with a loud voice, God, who was standing right in front of him, and then he bowed down and thanked him. This kind of thanks actually indicated an end to their relationship like when we say thank you to a cashier or store clerk knowing that we will probably never see them again, and the Samaritan knew that he and Jesus would also probably never meet again. The other nine, however, would technically continue in their relationship with God and that was Jesus’ point. An ongoing relationship requires that both parties know one another’s essence. These lepers failed to recognize the essence of Christ as the only God that can heal leprosy. They were thrilled to be healed I am sure, they obeyed Jesus’ instruction to go and show their miracle to the priests, but they failed to see God standing right in front of them the way that the Samaritan, a foreigner, did.

I know that I do the same thing on a daily basis. For example, I walk by the Adoration Chapel at work probably 5-6 times a day, and how many times do I actually stop in to give him praise for all the leprous healings in my own life that only God can do?  I’m embarrassed to say, hardly ever. How many times do we give God a “thank you for your services” handshake, thus ending our business transaction for the moment until we need him to be our genie in a bottle next time? Today’s gospel reminds us that Jesus wants us in a relationship with him, not in a services rendered or business endeavor association.

When wonderful things happen in our lives, may we have the faith, like the Samaritan in today’s story, to praise God with a loud voice. With that being said, I’m glad that youth ministry is a “thankless” job at times because I want ongoing relationships steeped in praising God with loud voices, and acknowledging that Jesus Christ is our savior and healer, rather than hoops to be jumped through or boxes to be checked off. Jesus is calling us to recognize him, praise him, and to let our faith in him save us. What a wonderful world?  

Memorial of Saint Martin of Tours, Bishop
Lectionary: 493

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.

Responsorial Psalm PS 82:3-4, 6-7

R. (8a) Rise up, O God, bring judgment to the earth.
Defend the lowly and the fatherless;
render justice to the afflicted and the destitute.
Rescue the lowly and the poor;
from the hand of the wicked deliver them.
R. Rise up, O God, bring judgment to the earth.
I said: “You are gods,
all of you sons of the Most High;
yet like men you shall die,
and fall like any prince.”
R. Rise up, O God, bring judgment to the earth.

Alleluia 1 THES 5:18

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
In all circumstances, give thanks,
for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

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.”