Today we hear about how Jesus, continuing on his journey to Jerusalem, heals 10 lepers. This story is a lesson about faith and reminds us that faith is sometimes found in unlikely places. Ten people afflicted with leprosy cry out to Jesus. Struck with pity, Jesus heals all 10. However, only one is described as glorifying God and returning to thank Jesus. The one who returns is a Samaritan, a foreigner. In the Jewish circles in which Jesus lived, Samaritans were looked down upon because of the differences between the two communities in their observance of Judaism. It is significant, therefore, that Jesus commends the Samaritan for his faith, which has been his salvation. Throughout Luke’s Gospel, faith is found in surprising places. Another lesson for us in this Gospel has to do with salvation. All 10 of the lepers were given the gift of healing, but in his gratitude to God for this gift, the Samaritan found salvation. Our salvation is found in recognizing the gifts we have been given and knowing to whom we must offer our thanks. A true disciple must live in an attitude of gratitude, not entitlement. We must not think of the blessings in our lives as things we deserve or have earned. There are others with less blessings who are just as good and just as beloved as we are. When we live in gratitude, we understand that God has given us gifts to share with others. Jesus heals all ten lepers in the gospel. And he tells them that their faith was essential to this healing. In fact, he does not even touch them, as he often does when healing people. Instead he just tells them to go to the priests. They believe his word and are made clean. But nine of them don’t seem to realize that this healing is a gift from God. Only the foreigner, who worships differently than the Jews, returns to give thanks. In a similar way, it can be easy for us to forget that we receive gifts from God every day. And we can take our faith for granted. This can be especially true for cradle Catholics. We go to Mass on Sunday without really thinking about what we are doing. We think that we are deserving of salvation because of the good things we do. But salvation is a free gift from God, it is not earned. So let us thank God for it every day.
