The readings for the 28th Sunday in ordinary time year C invite us to reflect deeply on Gratitude, Healing and the transformative power of faith. They show how people respond to God’s help and how faith brings wholeness. In the first reading from 2kings we meet Naaman, a great commander plagued by leprosy. Despite his status and achievements, it is through the humble servant girl that he learns of Elisha, the Prophet who can heal him. Naaman’s Journey of healing involves not just the physical cleansing in the Jordan River but a transformative moment of humility and faith. He recognizes the one true God and returns to express his gratitude, declaring “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel”. And in second reading St Paul in his letter to Timothy, encourages us to remember Jesus Christ and the enduring message of the Gospel, even amid suffering. He reminds us that if we share in Christ’s sufferings we also share in His glory. Our faith is a journey that requires perseverance, humility, and an open heart to recognize God’s grace at work in our lives.
The Gospel of today is taken from St Luke Chapter 17 and verses from 11-19 it speaks about the healing of the Ten Lepers. The Gospel begins with the words as: Jesus continued His journey to Jerusalem, He traveled through Samaria and Galilee, a Jew would avoid going through Galilee but Jesus embraces both. Jews hated Samaritans because they mixed their life culture and worship with gentiles thus there was an enmity and division between them, Jesus walks through both the cities. He wants to be a connecting factor that promotes peace and unity. It is a courageous act because most of the time both of them will disown you and you will be alone. Today the world is divided into ideologies of left and right, they are divided economically, socially and religiously. At times we like it or not we are also identified and polarized. In this context Jesus gives us an example to be a connecting factor and to be a unifying factor. Then we see 10 lepers standing at a distance and asking Jesus to have mercy on them. It is to be noted that later Luke says that one of them was a Samaritan, we do not know how many Jews and How many Samaritans were there, at least we know one of them was a Samaritan. We must be wondering that Jews and Samaritan had enmity among them and how come we see here both together. A common suffering broke down their barriers, a common need brought them together. Here we must also note how the disease of leprosy was weaved at the time of Jesus. Any disease and disability were considered as a result of sin, they were signs of punishment of God. And leprosy was the most feared and dreaded disease in ancient times, they were sent out of the society, even those suspected of having leprosy were forced to leave their families and homes. It was to protect the rest of the society from contamination. They had to cry out in loud voices to warn others from far, leper, leper as a precaution for others not to come closer to them. They were fully excluded from the temple and could not participate in any liturgy and cannot offer any sacrifice. Thus, this social stigma and forced isolation were as painful as the physical disease itself. All these pains and suffering not only brought them together but also brought them to Jesus and prayed to the Lord to have mercy on us. They ask for pity; they ask for mercy. It was remarkable that Jesus told them to go to the priest and show themselves while they were still lepers, because priests had right to testify and certify the healing even though there were still lepers, they obeyed Jesus they obeyed the command of Jesus so in faith they went and we read in the Gospel as they were going, they were cleansed.
We read the same thing in the first reading. Naaman the army general of Syria had a skin disease when he came to Elisha, for healing Elisha told him to Bath seven times in the Jordan river. Naaman did not question it or doubt it in faith and in obedience he bathed seven times and got cured. Yes, the one condition of healing was obedience. Obedience is an expression of faith and faith brings healing, when the lepers were healed one of them the Samaritan came and fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. Falling on his face before Jesus is a sign of adoration. Let us reflect on how we express our obedience to God today, how much our gratitude, and how often we break the barriers to come together like the lepers. Let us reflect, amen