Meditation Minute

My Dearest Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

“The one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks.” In today’s gospel (Luke 17:11-19), Jesus is teaching us about reverence and respect. How many times have we asked God for help? How many times were we in a real pickle and needed his help? How many times have we promised to do something if he would just help us out of this jam? And how many times have we got down on our knees and prostrated our selves to thank the Lord for everything he has done for us? The gospel starts out with Jesus traveling between Samaria and Galilee when he came upon a group of lepers. There was one Samaritan and nine Jews. There was no love lost between these two groups. In fact, if it weren’t for the infliction of leprosy, these two groups would not even be together.

The ten lepers cried out to Jesus, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” They did not ask to be cured but for Jesus to have mercy on them. To have mercy means to have pity on them. Jesus, feeling their pain and suffering, told them “Go and show yourselves to the priest.” The Mosaic Law called for Lepers to be separated from everyone else and not to leave their groups. Being obedient to Christ, they get up to go to the priest. As they went to the priest, they are cured. Their faith in God was expressed in their obedience to Jesus. While all ten were probably extremely elated that they were cured, only one, the Samaritan, was grateful. “Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks.” This gratitude was a sign of the true love for the grace that was bestowed upon him. One would have expected this from the Jews but not the Samaritan. This is the ultimate sign of reverence to God to prostrate oneself in thanksgiving for his mercy and kindness. Jesus says, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”

We must always remember to be grateful for the gifts which have been given to us. If we do not thank God for his mercy, we become ungrateful. Ungratefulness becomes a sign of expectation meaning that we expect God to do what we ask. We expect him to obey our commands and do our bidding. Ungratefulness leads us to be uncharitable with our own gifts and treasures. We become selfish and become unable to express true mercy and kindness for our fellow man. This is in direct opposition to the will of God. Do you show gratitude and mercy towards your neighbor or do you become complacent and expect things?

A Simple Prayer

Lord, I want to thank you for all you have given me.

I want to thank you for your mercy which you give me unconditionally

I want to thank you for your compassion and kindness

I am afflicted and you make me clean

Thank you!

Yours in Christ

Michael Marcon

PS – God is love, God is kind, God is merciful.