Weekly HOMILY for October 10, 2010: "Where Were the Other Nine Lepers?

28th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle C
Terranuova Hermitage
October 10, 2010

“Where Are the Other Nine Lepers?”
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato


The Story of the Ten Lepers


"WHERE ARE THE OTHER TEN LEPERS?

Jesus heals ten persons with leprosy.

One returns to thank him. “Where are the other nine?”

The Other Nine

One of the now-clean lepers goes off to build a new life for himself.

He busies himself finding a job, a new place to live, and maybe even a family. He becomes so busy building a new life for himself that he forgets the great blessing he has received.

Another of the lepers is filled with fear and worry because he has few skills and cannot imagine who will hire him and how he will support himself.

He is so afraid and worried that he is virtually paralyzed from doing anything. He remains huddled at the town gate, alone like a leper.

Still another of the lepers determines to even the score with everyone who has ever laughed at him or scorned him or ignored him because of his illness.

He vows: “They will pay for what they did to me.” He is obsessed with vengeance and never experiences any joy in his cure.

One of the now-clean lepers runs as far away as he can.

All he wants is to forget his old life and everything about it. He even tries to block out the cries of others who are suffering.

Another of the lepers just goes out and parties and parties and parties.

His newfound joy lasts as long as the wine and money do. Once they are gone, he has to face his new life lost and alone.

And there is even one leper who believes that there must be a catch and that he is not really clean and healed.

He thinks: “After all, why would anyone, especially God, do this for me?” So, he does nothing and just waits for the leprosy to return.

On it goes with the other nine.


HEALED OR NOT

Without a sense of gratitude for the miracle they have experienced, the miracle does not last very long.

Their self-absorption, their fear and worry, their anger, their repression, their skepticism, their misplaced hope – these responses have just made them lepers all over again.


THE ONE WHO THANKS

But there is the one leper who realizes that he has not just been made clean.

He realizes that he has even been touched by God. And so, he returns to give thanks to Jesus and this reflects the healing that has happened in his soul as well as in his body.

This leper has faith. Faith is primarily the recognition of the love and compassion of God.

This recognition moves us to give praise and thanks to God. In this, the one leper is a great model for us.


OUR RESPONSE

God is in our midst, active in our lives.

But sometimes, like the nine lepers, we are not aware of this. Sometimes our self-centeredness isolates us from one another.

Sometimes our fears and worries trap us. Sometimes our anger dictates our behavior.

Sometimes our skepticism or doubting or questioning becomes an end in itself. Sometimes our misplaced hopes and values lead us away from the divine, the transcendent, away from God.

When all of this is the case, we do not experience God in everyday life. And so, we need to look to the one leper for our lead on this.

We need to approach life with a sense of faith. We are to realize the presence and love of God in the birth of a baby, in the magnificence of creation, in the tenderness of a spouse, in the skill of a doctor, in our own ability to bring life to another through our love and care.

CONCLUSION

Maybe the bottom line is that for no reason other than love so profound that we cannot fathom it, God has breathed life into us and given many other gifts to us as well. Our only fitting response is to stand humbly before God in quiet thanks.

This gratitude can transform us. It can make so much of life an experience of God’s presence, love, grace, and healing action.