28th Sunday in Ordinary Time
2 Kings 5:14-17
2 Timothy 2:8-13
Luke 17:11-19

A. Text/Context
• This gospel about the cure of the ten lepers is only narrated here in the gospel of Luke. It is not found anywhere else in the 3 gospels
• It was until just a few decades back in the 80’s that leprosy is already curable
• But during the medieval ages the lepers are required by law to wear bells so that if they walked around the streets in the town people would hear the ringing of the bells and they would run away
• Of course the disease is dreadful as its victims also look very horrible where the flesh in the hands and limbs are eaten by a bacteria
• Today with the advent of modern medicine the disease is already conquered. It is already curable so there is nothing to be afraid anymore of the disease
• But during the time of Jesus, the lepers live with a very painful social stigma as they are considered dirty, and so they are the outcasts of society
• They are discriminated upon and ostracized by all people because of the laws of cleanliness in their religion
• Now Jesus on his way to Jerusalem passed through with these ten lepers in a village and shouted to Jesus from a distance
• Take note from a distance because the lepers can not go near a person as a rule and so they shouted to Jesus: Master, have pity on us and they beg Jesus to cure them
• And Jesus did not even go near them and he did not even say you are healed he just told them go and show yourselves to the priests
• The priests are the ones who act like doctors to tell those who are sick that they are cured and so they are now clean they can go back to the community
• And the ten lepers just followed what Jesus said anyway without much thinking
• And while they are just on their way to the priests the healing miracle occurred

B. Challenge
• There is a very striking message that the gospel wants to convey to us so clear in the gospel: No discrimination
• Just like Jesus, we must not discriminate others, we should not look down on other people because they have a notorious reputation in the neighborhood or because they are poor or because they have very little education, etc.
• Apartheid policy or the color segregation has long been gone. Racial discrimination in the world has already gone out of style but still even in modern democracies so famed for their freedom, racial slurs are still happening
• If somebody discriminates, that person has not recognized yet the equal rights God has given us as human beings
• Today, in some parts of the world, the women cannot find work, the children cannot talk, and the child in the womb can’t even be born because of abortion
• As a reflection, discrimination brings in a lot of evils and results to so much evil because we deny the rights of others
• Another lesson we get from the gospel today is that we should also cultivate an attitude of gratefulness
• For every good thing that others did to you, always say thank you and that would mean that you acknowledged such kindness and generosity and you are grateful
• We follow the single leper who came back to say thank you and not the nine who were cured who never even say a word of gratitude to Jesus
• Or like Naaman in the 1st reading who was converted because of the goodness of God
• The gospel today reminds us that in our lives as Christians, sometimes we forget the many good things that God has given us
• If Jesus himself who is already a God would say a prayer of thanks to his father in heaven then how much more of us who is merely his creation?
• We have the duty to thank our God for the many blessings that we receive
• You see, we are so emotional when we ask for something especially when we are in our greatest moment of need
• But when we get what we need, sometimes we forget to thank God, or in worst case, when we are so comfortable already we cannot even thank God because we have already forgotten God
• Sometimes we become so ungrateful; but you can just imagine, just a single malfunction of a nerve in our brain we can be paralyzed for life and perhaps we may never be healed
• You see, there were ten lepers who shouted have pity on us Jesus and all of the ten were healed
• Why? Because they believe in Jesus, they have faith in Jesus even if only one came back to give thanks
• I would not blame the 9 who might have forgotten to give thanks because they are so overwhelmed, but definitely, later, they will reflect and they will remember Jesus who healed them. It’s all about human weakness in us that God understands so much
• Faith is the catalyst to allow God to perform many miracles in our lives
• And this is the most important lesson in this gospel: the cultivation of faith in our life as Christians
• God will continue to shower us with graces even if we are ungrateful
• God remains faithful even if we are unfaithful according to the words of Paul to Timothy
• Lastly, any kind of a debilitating disease like leprosy or cancer or diabetes or AIDS would not really matter before the eyes of God
• It is a mystery that sometimes we are afflicted with a terrible sickness even if we are good Christians; even if we follow all his commandments
• There is a prophetic design in it: God wants us to experience his own suffering a thousand times more terrible than ours to make us stronger in faith
• St. Paul was found to be stricken with cancer and he would always complain to the Lord and beg him for healing
• Jesus said: my grace is already sufficient for you Paul, it is in your weakness that my strength is made manifest
• In other words, it is in our weakness that our faith, our total reliance in God would be stronger

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Luke 17 verse 11-19

Luke 17 verse 11-19