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Gospel: Luke 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 voices, 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.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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One of the great problems in our world is the fact that we can fail to see our neighbor as a fellow human being.
Consider the horrific things that happen in wartime. Occasionally, chemical weapons are released; entire villages are burned to the ground; bombs destroy buildings and homes; families are torn apart; death becomes a cold statistic.
When we don’t see others as human, unfathomable evil becomes possible.
A similar dynamic can unfold in our own relationships, though to a far lesser degree. Think about what happens when spouses or siblings get into a heated argument; we aim to hurt. In the height of our anger, we can fail to see – even someone we love – as human.
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In today’s Gospel, Jesus encounters a colony of lepers, who were considered less than human. People were terrified of leprosy, because it ate away at your limbs and led to a slow, painful death. Thus, lepers were allowed no physical contact with the world.
Even as late as the Middle Ages, there are stories of lepers being led in procession into a church behind a crucifix and a priest. Once gathered there, the priest would offer a funeral service for them while they were still alive…
The message was clear: “You are not wanted. Do not return here. Leave.”
Leprosy not only eroded the body, but it also eroded the soul.
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If there is any good in this lonely Gospel story prior to the lepers’ encounter with Jesus, it is this: leprosy dissolved the racial and national barriers that kept these Jews and this sole Samaritan apart. Under any other circumstance, they were sworn enemies.
But in this woeful colony, there was neither Jew nor Samaritan; they were simply human beings in need, together. The boundaries that once defined their lives had been erased by their common affliction.
Perhaps there’s a prophetic word in that for us. In a nation that seems divided at every turn, can we transcend our differences to focus on what unites us, not only our shared humanity, but also our need for God?
If we don’t worship him, then we can worship anything or anyone else. 
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As these lepers spot the Lord off in the distance, they begin crying out in unison. Like street dogs barking uncontrollably, each with a makeshift collar and a bell jingling around their neck, they plead, “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!”
This is the only time in Luke’s Gospel when someone other than the disciples calls Jesus, “Master.”
Moved with compassion, the Lord tells them to go and show themselves to the priests. Somewhere along the way, all ten of them are healed. But unlike other miracles, this story is not about their healing; it’s about their response to it.
Nine never return.
Only one does. And he is a Samaritan.
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“He returned,” Luke says, “glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him.”
The word Luke uses to describe this man’s “return” is the same word he uses to describe the conversion of the Prodigal Son. This leper was transformed in his body and his soul, which is what makes his healing complete.
As the Psalmist says, “Praise the Lord, my soul. With all my being, bless his holy name! Praise the Lord my soul; never forget his blessings, who pardons all your sins and heals all your ills.”
What, exactly, inspired him to return, as opposed to the others?
This Samaritan realized that God acted through Jesus; that Jesus IS the high priest; that he IS the new Temple; that in Jesus, God has visited his people.
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When all ten lepers wanted something from the Lord, they cried out loudly in unison. “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” But when it was time to give him thanks, those ten desperate voices softened into one.
How does the intensity of our own prayer life change when we want something from Jesus versus when we thank him? Do we pray harder in our need than we do in our gratitude?
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Although we can never repay the Lord for his goodness to us, especially for the priceless assurance of our salvation, we should thank him in three particular ways.
Pray in gratitude as often as we pray in petition; praise him wholeheartedly as a community of faith; and recognize and serve him in our neighbor. For whatever we do to each other – especially the “leper” among us – we do to Christ himself.
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Image credits: (1) Osprey Observer (2) St. James Catholic Church (3) Qgiv.com
