A Grateful Samaritan

In today’s Gospel Jesus hears the cries of lepers and tells them to go forth to the priest in the village and they will be healed. There were ten lepers who approached Jesus, yet after meeting with the priest, only one came back and gave thanks. This man was not just another Jew, but a Samaritan throwing himself prostrate on the ground before Jesus in complete gratitude. “Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God...Stand up and go; your faith has saved you.” (Lk 17:18-19). The gratitude that the Samaritan man gives to Jesus shows us that we must remember that our blessings come from God. Jesus emphasizes this message by pointing out the fact that it is a foreigner, not a Jew, that returns to give thanks to Jesus, thus foreshadowing how Christianity will be a religion that is open to all. The other image that is shown in this pericope is how Jesus sends the lepers to the village priest, how later in the Gospels Jesus will give the authority over to his apostles to forgive sins and to cast out demons, thus ushering in the apostolic succession which the Church holds as its Tradition reaching back from Jesus all the way to the present day.

Reflection: Am I returning to God to give thanks to him?

Lord God, thank you for today and everyday. Thank you for you grace and your love. Help me Lord to remember that it is through you that all things are possible. It is with your love and mercy that I am able to return my love to you and to love those around me. Send forth your Spirit Lord that I may learn to always recognize your will in my life and that I may be mindful of how you are working in me. I pray, through our Lord Jesus Christ, your son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever, Amen.

Resource: http://usccb.org/bible/readings/111418.cfm