Gospel: November 13, 2024

November 13, 2024 (Wednesday)

32nd Week in Ordinary Time

Psalter: Week 4 / (White)

St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, virgin

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 23: 1b-3a, 3bc-4, 5, 6

The Lord is my Shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

1st Reading: Titus 3: 1-7

Gospel: Luke 17: 11-19

On the way to Jerusalem, Jesus was passing along the border between Samaria and Galilee, and as he entered a village, 10 lepers came to meet him. Keeping their distance, they called to him, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” Then Jesus said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” Now, as they went their way, they found they were cured. One of them, as soon as he saw he was cleansed, turned back praising God in a loud voice, and throwing himself on his face before Jesus, he gave him thanks. This man was a Samaritan.

Then Jesus said, “Were not all 10 healed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God but this alien?” And Jesus said to him, “Stand up and go your way; your faith has saved you.”

Reflection:

“He gave him thanks.”

We hear the phrase, “Gratitude is the memory of the heart.” This memory is primarily an immediate one. Gratitude does not need a long time to be expressed. It is an instantaneous response to anyone through whom we might have received something good. Today’s Gospel is teaching us to be grateful. The pericope narrates the 10 lepers healed by Jesus. Jesus entered a village, upon passing through Samaria and Galilee. In that village, from a distance, 10 lepers pleaded Jesus to heal them. The response of Jesus to their plea was an instruction to go and show themselves to the priests. The instruction of Jesus is akin to the performance of the ritual prescribed in Leviticus 14. The entire Leviticus 14 speaks of the law of leprosy. Out of 57 verses, the first 32 verses tell of the instructions on the ritual that needs to be done for cleansing healed lepers. The instructions appear to be tedious and would definitely take a long time to be accomplished. The Gospel passage narrates that when one of the 10, a Samaritan, noticed that he was cleansed, went back, praising God, and gave thanks to Jesus. Like the Samaritan, we are called to be always grateful.