While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them, “This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah. Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. At the judgment the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation and she will condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and there is something greater than Solomon here. At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because at the preaching of Jonah they repented, and there is something greater than Jonah here.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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There’s a story retold from the French Revolution about a group of Christians imprisoned in a dungeon.
For a brief moment each day, the sun rose to a certain angle, causing a ray of light to penetrate their cell.
As the light came in, one of the prisoners was hoisted onto another’s shoulders, where he opened his bible and proclaimed what he read.
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I wonder what verses they heard. Perhaps one of the following:
“For I know well the plans I have for you, says the Lord.” (Jeremiah 29:11)
“Come to me all you who are heavy burdened and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)
“Whoever hears my word and believes in him who sent me has eternal life.” (John 5:24)
“This is my Body…this is my Blood…do this in memory of me.” (Luke 22:19)
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At the darkest moment of their lives, these Christians turned to the Word of God, and believed.
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In today’s Gospel, Jesus condemns the scribes and Pharisees for their hardened hearts. They’ve seen him heal people and cast out demons; they’ve heard him preach. Yet his Word is not enough for them. They want more and more “signs.”
“But no [other] sign will be given it, except Jonah the prophet,” Jesus says. Meaning, they should repent and believe like their ancestors.
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At times we’re all tempted to want more proof that God is real. But the words he speaks in the Gospels, along with the countless prayers he’s already answered, should be enough to assure us that God is alive … and in touch.
Like those Christians huddled in a dungeon, may we hear the Word of God and receive it for what it is: “A lamp for our feet, a light for our path” (Psalm 119).
Each in our own way, may we repent and believe in the Gospel.
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
When Jesus had driven out a demon, some of the crowd said: “By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he drives out demons.” Others, to test him, asked him for a sign from heaven. But he knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house. And if Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that it is by Beelzebul that I drive out demons. If I, then, drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your own people drive them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man fully armed guards his palace, his possessions are safe. But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him, he takes away the armor on which he relied and distributes the spoils. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.
“When an unclean spirit goes out of someone, it roams through arid regions searching for rest but, finding none, it says, ‘I shall return to my home from which I came.’ But upon returning, it finds it swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and brings back seven other spirits more wicked than itself who move in and dwell there, and the last condition of that man is worse than the first.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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*** In 1954, William Golding published a novel about a group of boys stuck on a remote Pacific Island. Their makeshift community quickly deteriorated into chaos as the boys’ worst instincts overtook any sense of common good.
They fought amongst themselves for power, food, and survival.
That inner demon stifling the boys’ unity was known as the, “lord of the flies,” which also provided the book’s title.
Golding used this idea – the “lord of the flies” – to describe the malicious instinct seemingly written into our human nature, dating back to the Book of Genesis.
Consider what happened to the first set of brothers on earth, Cain and Abel.
When God found Abel’s sacrifice to be more pleasing than Cain’s, the “lord of the flies” took over, causing Cain to kill his brother, Abel, in a jealous rage.
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That same destructive instinct is at work in the Gospels.
Jesus is doing something incredible – he’s driving a demon out of a tortured man! Instead of celebrating the relief the Lord brings, some within the crowds accuse him of cozying up to the devil.
“By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he drives out demons,” they say.
What’s wrong with them? Are they skeptics, void of any faith in God? Or, perhaps, jealous of Jesus?
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That same divisive “lord of the flies” instinct still pokes its ugly head out today.
Although we’re people of good will, how often do we find ourselves succumbing to gossip, tarnishing a person’s reputation, aggressive driving, being rude, or ungrateful, behaviors which rupture our unity?
It’s a humbling point, but the Gospel invites us to consider ways in which we break our communion with others, then work to counteract that impulse with charity.
“A house divided amongst itself will fall,” Jesus warns.
May that never be spoken of us – at home, in the Church, or anywhere Christians assemble.
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Image credits: (1) https://www.bharatagritech.com/?q=what-does-it-mean-a-house-divided-cannot-stand-xx-zrxNa8fg (2) Lord of the Flies clapperboard, Cultbox (3) Pastorandrews.org
