Homily for the Week of October 10, 2010

Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2010- GRATITUDE

2 Kings 5:14-17

Psalm 98:1, 2-3, 3-4

2 Timothy 2:8-13

Luke 17:11-19

Brother Juniper once asked St. Francis of Assisi, Teach me to preach as eloquently as you. St Francis told him: I am not good with words. I will teach you to preach more eloquently than I. Meet me tomorrow, and I shall teach you to preach.

Brother Juniper met Francis early the next morning. To Juniper's surprise, they began walking. They walked through the main street of Assisi in Italy where there were stores and shops, smiling and talking with the clerks, the shoppers, the business owners, the children. They helped an old woman carry her wash up a set of stairs. They walked by a farm and stopped to talk to a farmer who was just bringing in a load of corn from the field. They talked with a few girls and boys who were on the swings in the school yard. They talked about fishing to some fisherman who had been out fishing early in the morning. Finally, an exasperated Brother Juniper asked, Francis, when are you going to teach me how to preach? St. Francis replied:Why, we are preaching.

Today's readings tell us about three holy men: Jesus, St. Paul and Elisha and how they preached to the people by the example of their lives, and by the stories that they told of the persons they met.

In our First Reading we hear just a little bit of the life of Nathan, an Army Sergeant. Nathan has leprosy. His wife had a young girl who worked around the house. The girl suggests that Nathan visit a holy man by the name of Elisha who lived in a foreign country by the name of Samaria. He couldn't find Elisha, so he goes to the president of that country for directions. The president is suspicious because he knew Nathan was a soldier in a foreign army. At first he refused to give him directions, but then finally gives in. Nathan bathes in the Jordan river as Elisha advised him. Nathan is cured. Once home he sends Elisha a thank you gift.

The Gospel relates a more familiar story. The lepers who came to Jesus were the worst of outcasts. People were afraid to associate with them. I doubt if any of you have ever seen a person sick with leprosy. But leprosy, or known today as Hansen's disease, is a contagious and an uncontrollable disease of olden times, yet it still affects about 15 million persons in some parts of our world. It could be compared to our fear of AIDS or cancer. Many lepers had no noses, no eyebrows, at times no ears; some lost fingers and toes. Many lepers had to wear a bell so that people could move to the other side of the path or road when they came. That is why the lepers in today's gospel STOOD AT A DISTANCE from Jesus.

In the Gospel we have the 10 lepers coming to Jesus for a cure. But Jesus refuses to heal them. Instead he tells them to go to Jerusalem and show themselves to the rabbis. What Jesus says makes little sense. Sending the lepers to Jerusalem is like telling an illegal alien to report to the immigration officer. But they all leave Jesus, and are cured along the way. Only one of them comes back to Jesus to say thank you. And he was a Samaritan -- one of those who most people would have considered the least likely to come back.

Jesus is not so much telling us about his power to heal but telling us that it is ok to heal all persons, and that all persons can be thankful. It is no longer necessary by the time of Jesus to be in the right place at the right time. All that is needed is faith. YOUR FAITH IS YOUR SALVATION. The samaritan was not only healed but he was converted. His faith in Jesus was his salvation. The Samaritan came back, not only because he had been healed, but because he believed.

Did the other nine not notice the miraculous disappearance of their leprosy? Possibly they were so accustomed to looking at life negatively that they missed the moment of their own healing. Or maybe what they wanted when they cried out to Jesus HAVE PITY ON US was money, not healing. The 9 took their healing for granted. They did not believe before they were cured, nor did the believe after the cure.

How do we thank God for his goodness to us? Maybe we are not use to saying thank you. Maybe we take life for granted. We can say thank you for the medical report that shows no cancer; to the doctor or medical staff that took years and years of study to do surgeries; for the teacher who taught reading, writing and arithmetic; for the car accident that nearly happened; for the telephone call from a friend whom we thought had forgotten us; for the healing of a relationship; for parents who gave us a religious formation, for a sunny day, for a smile from a spouse or child, friend or stranger. All of these are God's gifts which we enjoy many times.

Even if we feel that we haven’t been all that richly blessed, we live in a land where the poor are often better off than a vast majority of the poor throughout the world. Most of us have friends and family. Do we remember to thank God for all the dozens of little gifts that we receive throughout the day? Or is it easier to complain that we didn’t get exactly what we prayed for?

Right before communion we pray the words that could have easily come from the mouths of the ten lepers: LORD, ONLY SAY THE WORD AND I SHALL BE HEALED. Healed and restored we can now go to share the peace of Jesus with those who are bound by anxiety, pain and sin. Will we be like the ninety percent who don’t bother to give thanks, or will will give thanks for our healing Eucharist? The choice is ours.

To be a Christian is to be a person who begins and ends a day, a prayer, or even a life with gratitude. Real gratitude is simply the act of acknowledging God in our lives. With real gratitude, we can survive any problem.