Reflection for the 28th Sunday C
Jesus said to the Samaritan leper who was healed of his skin infirmity and who turned back to Jesus praising God and giving thanks: “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.” In the first reading it is also a foreigner Naaman the Syrian who was healed after plunging into the Jordan seven times at the instruction of Elisha the man of God. He was initially reluctant but was persuaded to trust in the man of God. Jesus mentions this to the fury of some Jewish leaders when he said in Luke 4:27 “And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the Prophet, yet not one was cleansed, only Naaman the Syrian.” He had faith. He came to faith in the One True Living Creator. God bestowed a healing on a hostile pagan to show that many in Israel are not open to the mercy and universal compassion of God. They have no real faith. God wants all human beings to be saved and cleansed of the leprosy of sin.
Faith is as is written in Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for (Divinely guaranteed) and the evidence of things not seen.” St John of the Cross says that God is the substance and concept of faith. No-one can please God without faith. The size of faith is not significant, as Jesus taught that faith the size of a mustard seed has tremendous power and influence. This is because what IS significant is WHO one places one’s faith in. And in that loving union with God in a grateful heart of faith Jesus teaches that if we abide in Him, and He in us, we may ask what we will, and it will be done for us. That is because we have the mind and heart of Christ, and only ask what is in accord with His will, His Mind and His Heart.
What God wants above all is a loving relationship of trust and confidence with every human soul. Thus, a soul who experiences God’s Mercy and Love and returns love and gratitude to God. Who praises and worships and adores Him. When you realise how deeply you are loved, you return that love, heart to heart. That is why the Samaritan leper truly experiences not just a physical healing, but a spiritual cleansing and healing, being made truly well with a healing that is eternal, not just temporal. He can Rise and know his faith has made him well. There are no ethnic or national boundaries to God’s love and mercy. His thanksgiving to God shows to God: “You really believe I love you!”
When the ten lepers went to show themselves to the priests, The Jewish ones headed to Jerusalem and Mt Zion, but the Samaritan must have headed to Mt Gerizim where they believe God should be worshipped. They were healed on their way: So, neither Jerusalem nor Gerizim is now the place to meet and encounter God’s healing and salvation. Jesus in His Person is now that sacred space, accessible by faith. His faith saved the Samaritan leper. His faith in Jesus. Our Mission is to live and proclaim this Good News to all the world, and to all nations. Our Mission is to give thanks and praise to God for being with us in the Eucharist and the Sacraments, in His Word and His Church which is that sacrament of the unity of humanity, and the Light of the nations.