WERE NOT ALL TEN MADE CLEAN?

HOMILY FOR THE 28^TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR C

REV. FR. EZEKOKA PETER ONYEKACHI

Here is a story for you about a boy who was blind. The boy used to sit begging on the steps of a high street building. He would place a hat by his feet and hold up a sign saying: I am blind. Please help me. The sign wasn’t effective in persuading people to give him their spare change. There were only ever a few coins in the hat. His life changed on the day that a certain man was walking past him. The man took a few coins out of his pocket and dropped them in the hat. Politely, he took the sign from the blind boy, turned it round, and wrote something on the back. Carefully he returned the sign to the boy so that everyone who walked by would see the new appeal. Very soon, the hat began to fill up with donations! Lots more people were giving money to the boy. That same afternoon, the man who had changed the wording on the sign stopped by to see how things were going. The boy recognised his footsteps. He asked, “Are you the kind man who changed my sign this morning? Tell me, please, what was it that you wrote?” The man replied, “Don’t worry, your message stayed the same, but I put it slightly differently. What I wrote was: Today is a beautiful day, but I cannot see it.

It’s true that both signs informed people that the boy was blind and needed help. But the second version acknowledged that the boy was grateful for having been given a beautiful day, even though he could not enjoy it visually. This then became a message to passers-by about how fortunate they were to be able see the day for themselves. Should we then be surprised that the second sign was more effective? Why was it effective? Because it came from a grateful heart. This Sunday both the Gospel (Luke 17:11-19) and the First Reading (2 Kings 5:14-17) point towards a message of thanksgiving. Jesus healed ten men who were lepers, but only one returned to give thanks to God for the healing, and he was a Samaritan, an outsider. After Naaman was healed of his leprosy, he returned to give thanks to God through the gifts he wanted to offer Elisha, the man of God.  

In the culture of both Naaman’s and Jesus’ time, people with skin diseases were branded outcasts, and were isolated from interaction with other people. Sufferers were perceived to be ritually ‘unclean’ and were banned from participation in worship of God in the Temple, the place of sacrifice. Leviticus 13 and 14 give full details of how those with skin diseases were to be relegated from society and to be kept separate from everyone else (cf. Numbers 5:2-3). From these regulations, we can deduce that these afflicted people who were cured (the ten lepers and Naaman) had experienced the harshness of separation from their family and friends and the wider community. Beyond this physical healing, then, is the restoration of these people to their original status in society, the restoration of their daily work, and their reconnection with their families. This is indeed how Jesus heals us daily, and restores us to our original state of sanctity, peace and inner tranquillity. What is it, then, that you feel you need to be healed of, in order to be restored to wholeness? You need only to call on Jesus - as did the lepers - to have pity on you, and thereafter to wait patiently to experience your own healing and restoration in God’s good time.

Both Naaman and the Samaritan leper were exceptional in their acts of thanksgiving to God. However, it comes as a surprise that it was only the Samaritan, the foreigner (rather the other nine, who were Jewish), who understood fully what had happened to him and thanked God for it. By extension, his return to Jesus can be seen as resulting from a deep sense of conversion. We can go on to say that while the other nine were healed physically, their attitude indicated that spiritually they rejected conversion to Jesus Who is God-with-us, Emmanuel. Like the Samaritan, when we return to give God thanks for what He does in our lives, our own conversion and commitment to Him are deepened and strengthened. Gratitude to God paves the way for ever-deeper commitment, rooting it ever more firmly, and enhancing the heart. What has the Lord done for you? Do you consider yourself to be thankful enough to Him? Have you forgotten those moments when you were praying earnestly for what you are now or what you have now; let’s say, for example, your wife, husband, children, job, qualifications, skill, popularity, wealth, and so on? Might you have forgotten that you are benefiting right now from these gifts of God, and are currently praying for yet more gifts without having taken the time to thank God for his blessings to date? If so, may I remind you that the time has come for you to offer massive thanksgiving to God. You might want to think about keeping a personal diary of things in your life for which you are grateful.

A sure test of faith is gratitude to God for what He has done for us. ‘Where not all ten made clean? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praises to God except this foreigner?’ God actually expects us to show gratitude. He admires us when we are sensible enough to thank Him. Remember how you feel when you are expecting someone to thank you, but they never bother? Yes, you might not gain anything in material terms from someone expressing their gratitude to you, but somehow gratitude makes the giver happy that their gift is appreciated by the recipient. It is heart-warming to be appreciated. Whenever we express our delight about the gifts He gives us, God is happy. 

To conclude, may I remind you of what Jesus said to the grateful Samaritan: go, your faith has saved you. The man’s about-turn to offer thanks to Him convinced Jesus of his genuine love and conversion. Jesus went on to declare the man faithful which would lead ultimately to his salvation. Unlike the other nine, this man gained both healing and faith. Expressing gratitude to God produces more and more blessings. The Samaritan went home with a triple portion of blessing: he was healed, faithful and saved. The person who was not considered by society to be a chosen one, like themselves, secured for himself chosen status specifically through his gratitude. The Samaritan became the protagonist in this gospel story. It’s interesting how St. Luke highlighted the beneficiary in the narrative as being someone from outwith the chosen people of God, as Luke himself was. So, what counts with God is no longer the societal pride of place that the Jewish people occupied prior to the Incarnation, but the consistent effort of each and every one of us in adhering to his/her commitment of fidelity to God, to following Our Lord Jesus, and of giving gratitude to Him. ‘Work out your salvation with fear and trembling’ (Phil 2:12). If we hold firm, then we shall reign with him (2 Tim. 2:8-13), as the Second Reading says. Cicero, the Roman orator, declared that: “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the mother of all the others”. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your multiple gifts which You shower upon us. May I wish you all a week filled with gratitude to God for His blessings. God bless you.