12 Nov 2014 - bath of rebirth

They stood at a distance from him and raised their voice, saying,
“Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!”

We all need to come to Jesus for mercy. None of us can stand before him on our own merits or "because of any righteous deeds we had done" because all of us "were once foolish, disobedient, deluded, slaves to various desires and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful ourselves and hating one another." All have sinned a fall short of the glory of God (cf. Rom. 3:23). "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God" (cf. Eph. 2:8).

Instead, it is "because of his mercy" that "he saved us through the bath of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he richly poured out on us through Jesus Christ our savior".  We don't earn baptism or confirmation.  They are gifts of mercy "so that we might be justified by his grace and become heirs in hope of eternal life."

Sometimes we fixate so strongly on certain commands that we miss the actual work of grace that Jesus does inside of us.  This is possibly what happens to the lepers.

And when he saw them, he said,
“Go show yourselves to the priests.”
As they were going they were cleansed. 

But it says that only one of them returns, "realizing he had been healed". The other nine are not faithless. They heed the voice of Jesus. They go to present themselves to the priests. They do this even though when they set out they are still not healed. However, we can almost imagine them so focused on the journey that they fail to notice as their bodies begin to change and heal along the way. They are all healed but only one returns to give thanks. Maybe the others are vaguely aware that something is different now, that healings has come. But they are not so aware of it as to be thankful.

Let's not miss the work of Jesus within us today. We follow his word not so that he can heal us. We follow his word because he does heal us and that empowers us to follow him. In terms of the reading today, we present ourselves to the priests not for healing but to show that we are healed. Indeed, we are called to live good lives:

Remind them to be under the control of magistrates and authorities,
to be obedient, to be open to every good enterprise.
They are to slander no one, to be peaceable, considerate,
exercising all graciousness toward everyone.

We are called to this not so that we can receive the Holy Spirit in Baptism and Confirmation. We are called to this because Baptism and Confirmation make it possible. We have received these sacraments, so we shouldn't just keep walking.  We should return to thank and glorify Jesus for his work in us. Only realizing that we have been healed will we be able to live in the freedom of that healing. Are we still "slaves to various desires and pleasures"? Maybe it's because we don't quite realize that we don't have to be slaves any longer. But "if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed" (cf. Joh. 8:36).

When we stay close to the shepherd we lack nothing. When we return to thank him we find that we continue to receive more than we can ever give him.

You spread the table before me
in the sight of my foes;
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.

This banquet, the Eucharist, is the thanksgiving that he himself gives us, that we may offer it to the Father.

Only goodness and kindness follow me
all the days of my life;
And I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
for years to come.