May your grace, O Lord, we pray, at all times go before us and follow after and make us always determined to carry out good works. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
First Reading 2 Kgs 5:14-17
Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram and a mighty warrior, obeyed Elisha: 14 he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean. 15 Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company; Naaman came and stood before Elisha and said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel; please accept a present from your servant.” 16 But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives, whom I serve, I will accept nothing!” Naaman urged Elisha to accept, but he refused. 17 Then Naaman said, “If not, please let two mule-loads of earth be given to your servant; for your servant will no longer offer burnt offering or sacrifice to any god except the Lord.”
Responsorial Psalm Ps 98:1, 2-3, 3-4
Second Reading 2 Tm 2:8-13
Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David— that is my gospel, 9 for which I suffer hardship, even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But the word of God is not chained. 10 Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, so that they may also obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. 11 The saying is sure: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; 12 if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he will also deny us; 13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.
Acclamation before the Gospel 1 Thess 5:18
Gospel Lk 17:11-19
On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, 13 they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” 14 When Jesus saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean. 15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. 16 He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? 18 Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then Jesus said to Samaritan, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”
Catena Nova
No duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks.(St. Ambrose of Milan)
Let us give thanks to God continually. For, it is outrageous that when we enjoy His benefaction to us in deed every single day, we do not acknowledge the favor with so much as a word; and this, when the acknowledgment confers great benefit on us. He does not need anything of ours, but we stand in need of all things from Him. In point of fact, thanksgiving adds nothing to Him, but it brings us closer to Him.(St. John Chrysostom)
In our own day we see many people at prayer but, unfortunately, we see none of them turning back to give thanks to God…“Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine?”…. We read that they knew well how to make “supplications, prayers, petitions” since they lifted up their voices, crying out:“Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!” But they lacked the fourth thing required by the apostle Paul:“thanksgiving”(1Tm 2:1) for they did not turn back nor give thanks to God. We see still more in our own day people who implore God for what they lack but a mere handful who seem to be grateful for the blessings they have received.(St. Bernard of Clarivaux)
If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, “Thank you,” that would suffice.(Meister Eckhart)
What most attracts God’s graces is gratitude, because if we thank Him for a gift, He is touched and hastens to give us ten more, and if we thank Him again with the same enthusiasm, what an incalculable multiplication of graces! I have experienced this: try it yourself and you will see! My gratitude for everything he gives me is limitless, and I prove it to Him in a thousand ways. (St. Therese of Lisieux)
In normal life we hardly realize how much more we receive than we give, and life cannot be rich without such gratitude. It is so easy to overestimate the importance of our own achievements compared with what we owe to the help of others.(Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
To be grateful is to recognize the Love of God in everything He has given us – and He has given us everything. Every breath we draw is a gift of His love, every moment of existence is a grace, for it brings with it immense graces from Him. Gratitude therefore takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, is constantly awakening to new wonder and to praise of the goodness of God. For the grateful person knows that God is good, not by hearsay but by experience. And that is what makes all the difference.(Thomas Merton)
Homily
What the Bible calls leprosy covered more than Hansen’s Disease. Various afflictions of the skin, not all contagious, were included under the stringent requirements of exclusion from the community imposed by the Law of Moses. Two whole chapters of Leviticus (13-14) deal in minute detail with what’s to be done with people suffering from various skin ailments. That would include, of course, psoriasis, treatable today by, among other things, a drug called Otezla. You’ve probably seen television ads promising Otezla will be able to “show more of you.” The lepers of Jesus’ time, whatever the precise condition, had no such remedies.
But they sure understood what it meant to show more of you. They had to do that in order to live once more among others not so afflicted. The Law of Moses demanded that anyone whose skin cleared up get cleared by a priest before they could be readmitted to society – after offering a sacrifice to atone for the trouble you caused. Indeed, priests were the dermatologists of the time. They even judged if the condition were serious enough to warrant exclusion in the first place.
Now that Samaritan whom Jesus healed would not have headed to the temple in Jerusalem for this clearance. Samaritans worshipped at another place, on Mt. Gerizim, which they thought was the one true sanctuary ordained by the God of Israel. But he doesn’t seem to go to one of his own priests. We’re told as they were going they were cleansed and realizing he had been healed returned to thank Jesus (cf. G). So much for the priest.
And that, it seems to me, is the real rub of the story: Jesus praises the Samaritan, not for his compliance or non-compliance to religious tradition, but for his gratitude and his faith. Which, of course, highlights a problem with religion, doesn’t it? Religion can degenerate into mere formality, mere adherence to externals, mere attention to the niceties of rubrics, precepts, and well, let’s face it, the minimum required to fulfill our obligation. In other words, to show less of us.
I think that’s one reason Jesus preferred the company of the great unwashed – like outcast lepers, public sinners, despised tax collectors, unlettered fishermen, preferring them to the religious elites of his time. They “got” him, while the others did not. And they had no choice but to show more of them. Their truth was plain for all to see.
Of course, people have been covering up their truth ever since Adam and Eve put on those animal skins to cover their nakedness in the Garden of Eden. As if God, from whom nothing is hidden, didn’t know what was underneath! Indeed, the cover-up was a give-away there was trouble in paradise.
So if you have any open sores that still need healing; scabs and scars still noticeable from a time long ago; rashes that can still break out wanting to be scratched, along with blemishes, age spots and moles that might embarrass should they be all too visible. The Divine Dermatologist knows about them all. And it seems the heavenly pharmacy is well-stocked with Otezla of a different sort: the kind that helps us show more of us because we’ve been taken into the embrace of a merciful God who cares little for pedigree, national origin, or self-righteousness.
And whose grace is free of charge – no need to make an offering any more than Naaman did to Elisha. A grateful heart will do nicely instead. For like Otezla's other slogan — it "works from the inside out" — making us ever more grateful people. And in case you ever feel like an outcast or a foreigner; like you should keep your distance lest you infect others; or if you’re afraid to venture forth from the tombs others say you should live in, or to doff your rags since you’re not fit for polite company, or worse, under God’s judgement -- well, there’s someone passing through your own Galilee and Samaria.
Someone who knows a thing or two about being an outcast and an object of reproach; someone who, when he got to Jerusalem, was crucified outside the camp right where lepers dwelt; someone who showed more of him than anyone else possibly could, and he of God: Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David (II). Who lives and reigns, forever and ever. Amen.
Intercessions (Joe Milner; The Sunday Website)
For the Church: that we may be a people filled with gratitude for all the blessings and gifts which we receive each day.
For insight: that we may see each person as a child of God and never judge them because of their race, religious background, education, or social standing.
For conversion of heart: that God will heal and cleanse our hearts from vices and sinfulness so that we may live as children of God each day.
For an appreciation of the ordinary: that we may be open to how God wishes to touch us and work in us through the gift of each new day, the people in our lives and the ordinary events of our lives.
For all who are ill, particularly those suffering from Hanson’s Disease and other diseases of the skin: that they may know the renewing and comforting touch of God through the compassionate care of people like Francis of Assisi, Damien of Molokai and Marianne Cope.
For families touched by domestic violence: that God will help family members to care for one another, grow in trust, and find the resources they need to move toward wholeness.
For peace and safety: that God will protect everyone from violence and open opportunities for healing and dialogue for all who are hurting.
O God, our life, our health, our salvation, look with mercy on your people. Stir up in us a saving faith, that believing, we may be healed, and being healed, we may worthily give you thanks. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. (ICEL; 1998)
Offertoy Antiphon
Offertory Hymn
Distraught and leprous, Namaan came To Jordan as Elisha said, Washed seven times, and found his flesh Restored to life, that once was dead.
In latter days, ten lepers came To seek new health in Jesus’ word; They heard, they followed; then were freed, But only one with thanks returned.
In wat’ry grave, we each have died With Christ, and now in him we live! Each day is bright with Jesus’ grace; With thankful hearts, our praise we give!
Communion Antiphon
Closing Hymn
Thine arm, O Lord, in days of old was strong to heal and save; it triumphed o'er disease and death, o'er darkness and the grave. To thee they went, the blind, the dumb, the palsied, and the lame, the leper with his tainted life, the sick with fevered frame.
And lo! thy touch brought life and health, gave hearing, strength, and sight; and youth renewed and frenzy calmed owned thee, the Lord of light: and now, O Lord, be near to bless, almighty as of yore, in crowded street, by restless couch, as by Gennesaret's shore.
Be thou our great deliverer still, thou Lord of life and death; restore and quicken, soothe and bless, with thine almighty breath: to hands that work and eyes that see, give wisdom's heavenly lore, that whole and sick, and weak and strong, may praise thee evermore.
Introit