To listen to this homily, click here.
Story of sharing on Thursday mornings: tired, early, but important lesson:
No situation was ever totally good or bad, just like the people in them.
There was always a positive quality or takeaway along with something that could be improved.
Applying that same logic to the gospel today and the 10 lepers. It’s not just 9 losers and one good guy.
All 10 had a holy boldness; they were willing to reach out to Christ even though social convention and the Law of Moses commanded them to stay away. In fact Jesus and his friends could have stoned them for coming close. But they were not afraid to stick their necks out and ask for healing.
All 10 had some degree of faith. Jesus never does miracles like a David Copperfield show; if people do not believe, he cannot do mighty things. The fact that all 10 are cleansed, shows us that they all believed in him and what he could do.
So that is the positive we can find in all 10. And we can certainly understand their unconfined excitement to leave Jesus and go show themselves to the priests. Leprosy didn’t just kill a person, it also quarantined him or her from family, friends, and community until the time of their gruesome death. It was an isolating disease and it even separated a person from their faith because they could no longer enter the temple to pray.
We all remember that feeling for 1.5 months where we could not go into our churches; imagine that for these poor souls as they slowly rotted away. Knowing they were doomed to die in misery, alone, uncomforted. Words cannot describe the joy and relief of being healed!
The first step in being allowed back into community and into worship, was to show themselves to the priests, who would declare them healed and cleaned and ritually pure. This then allowed them to re-enter society and re-unite with family and loved ones. No wonder they ran off and never looked back!
But one of them realized the miracle that had just happened and realized that only God could cure such a disease. Even more important than getting the thumbs up from the priests was to first thank God for this gift.
How does the one thankful leper say thanks? It isn’t with a handshake, thank you card, or a fruit basket! He takes the time to go back to Jesus, falls to his knees, and worships him. The way to thank God is to worship him. To acknowledge his power and goodness and to praise him.
When he does this, Jesus doesn’t say, “Don’t worry about it” or “please, you don’t have to thank me.” He accepts this act of worship and gratitude and then tells him to get up and go; this act of faith, gratitude, and praise has saved him.
The other 9 lepers are healed but not saved…there is a difference. Their lack of gratitude and their not taking the time to offer worship but instead moving on to other things, as important as those were, have led them to miss out on the greatest gift Jesus came to give: Salvation!
How do we apply this to our life?
We have been cleansed many times over throughout our lives. Sin is worse than any physical disease but like leprosy, it slowly consumes us and isolates us from God and others. Only God can cure it; we cannot save ourselves.
We have been healed the day we were baptized and cleansed every time we go to confession. On top of this, we have been given so many other gifts; some spiritual, some material, all more than we deserve and so many more than we realize.
So often, we have faith and that is why God is able to heal and bless us and work miracles in our lives. But then, like the nine lepers who ran off, we hurry on, from our divine healing and blessings, to our busy schedules without first returning to the Lord to thank him in worship.
This is why weekly Sunday Mass is so essential and required of each of us. Not as a rule to follow but as an acknowledgement and thank you to the Divine Physician who is so often helping and healing us. This is why taking time every day to count our blessings mindfully and to give thanks for what we have is so critical to a holy and grateful heart.
This is why there should never be a day where we don’t spend at least a little time worshipping Jesus in some form of deliberate prayer, whether that be with the Scriptures, in adoration, or some time-honored devotion where we return to the Lord and offer him the praise he is due. And that is why we should make every effort each week to pray and be present at Sunday Mass; it is the most pleasing and perfect act of thanksgiving and worship because we unite our prayers and offerings to the prayers and offering of Jesus; nothing could make the Father more happy.
One last note about thanking and worshiping God. He doesn’t need it. We are not doing it to appease him or get on his good side. When we give thanks and give God the praise that he is due, it changes us. The act of worship does not change God but it re-orients our lives and our hearts to what’s good, right, and holy. That is why and how it saves us.
When we give thanks, it's always good to be specific. I am grateful for my priesthood and the gift of spending the last 5 days with 200 other priests. I am thankful to be your pastor and for the many ways you help me to grow as I minister to you. I am grateful for my health and for my family; my friends and this beautiful season of fall. I am thankful for Fr. Sullivan’s quiet and holy example during these last 5 years and the many laypeople and priests who have formed me over the years.
Each of us has already been cleansed by Jesus death on the cross but our salvation is still being worked out. Jesus always does his part. But we have to receive that gift with faith and then return to him with grateful worship. As we continue our Eucharist today, a word that literally means, “thanksgiving”, let’s make sure and praise God for the many things he has done in our lives and in our families this week. Call to mind specific moments and blessings you have received, and say, “thank you.” By doing this, our faith will increase, God will be praised, and souls will be saved.
