(Audio)
They stood at a distance from him and raised their voice, 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.
It must have been hard for them to start in the direction of the priests before there was any change in their condition. When they called Jesus master and asked for mercy those words must have been more than mere flattery. They saw something in Jesus that we don't even always see now, recognizing that he could heal them, and believing that he would do what he said. We tend to believe in healing as an abstract possibility. We don't rule out the fact that it could even happen to us but we don't pursue it with the same gusto as these lepers. Certainly we've seen enough people not be healed so as to become jaded. But these lepers implicitly recognized that their attitude toward Jesus could make a difference for them that was not possible for others due to their lack of faith. They brought more than a wish, more than a thought that it would be nice if it happened. They brought faith in Jesus and responded to that faith with obedience. As is often the case in the economy of the Kingdom, they had to believe it before they saw it. We may be too afraid to be hurt to approach Jesus with faith of this intensity. We may be frightened that he doesn't really want to heal us. Will he heal others? Sure. But somehow we imagine ourselves to be the exception. It is true that we know that Jesus doesn't always heal every physical ailment about which we come to him, no matter how sincerely we ask. But perhaps we receive a lot less than we might because we only ask as an experiment and not as an act of faith. Even if he is not going to heal us now, or even not during this life, his still desires to bring about a greater good through what he allows. But if we don't even fully come to terms with what he permits by avoiding going all in on a robust expression of our faith it is likely that we will be stuck in a halfway lukewarm posture at least about that specific issue.
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.
Another vital aspect of the Christian life is to actually realize what has been done for us by Jesus. As Paul told Titus, "he saved us through the bath of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit". But it is too easy to take this new normal for granted and resume our lives as usual, without taking a pause to say thank you. It is too easy to forget the difference between before and after, how, without Jesus, "we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, deluded, slaves to various desires and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful ourselves and hating one another". It is too easy to become complacent even about the highest gift of his love for us, his own Body and Blood, given to us in the Eucharist. What we need instead is a practice of gratitude, which can become a virtuous cycle. It reminds us of how much we depend on Jesus, causing us to rely on him even more, giving us more reasons to praise him. This can change our attitudes for lepers who have merely reentered the normal world of life and worship to those whom Paul calls "heirs in hope of eternal life". Being thankful, then, helps us to see beyond the horizon of this world and keeps us on course toward our true and everlasting home.
“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.
It must have been hard for them to start in the direction of the priests before there was any change in their condition. When they called Jesus master and asked for mercy those words must have been more than mere flattery. They saw something in Jesus that we don't even always see now, recognizing that he could heal them, and believing that he would do what he said. We tend to believe in healing as an abstract possibility. We don't rule out the fact that it could even happen to us but we don't pursue it with the same gusto as these lepers. Certainly we've seen enough people not be healed so as to become jaded. But these lepers implicitly recognized that their attitude toward Jesus could make a difference for them that was not possible for others due to their lack of faith. They brought more than a wish, more than a thought that it would be nice if it happened. They brought faith in Jesus and responded to that faith with obedience. As is often the case in the economy of the Kingdom, they had to believe it before they saw it. We may be too afraid to be hurt to approach Jesus with faith of this intensity. We may be frightened that he doesn't really want to heal us. Will he heal others? Sure. But somehow we imagine ourselves to be the exception. It is true that we know that Jesus doesn't always heal every physical ailment about which we come to him, no matter how sincerely we ask. But perhaps we receive a lot less than we might because we only ask as an experiment and not as an act of faith. Even if he is not going to heal us now, or even not during this life, his still desires to bring about a greater good through what he allows. But if we don't even fully come to terms with what he permits by avoiding going all in on a robust expression of our faith it is likely that we will be stuck in a halfway lukewarm posture at least about that specific issue.
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.
Another vital aspect of the Christian life is to actually realize what has been done for us by Jesus. As Paul told Titus, "he saved us through the bath of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit". But it is too easy to take this new normal for granted and resume our lives as usual, without taking a pause to say thank you. It is too easy to forget the difference between before and after, how, without Jesus, "we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, deluded, slaves to various desires and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful ourselves and hating one another". It is too easy to become complacent even about the highest gift of his love for us, his own Body and Blood, given to us in the Eucharist. What we need instead is a practice of gratitude, which can become a virtuous cycle. It reminds us of how much we depend on Jesus, causing us to rely on him even more, giving us more reasons to praise him. This can change our attitudes for lepers who have merely reentered the normal world of life and worship to those whom Paul calls "heirs in hope of eternal life". Being thankful, then, helps us to see beyond the horizon of this world and keeps us on course toward our true and everlasting home.
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