28th Sunday - Fr. Leo
We often remind ourselves that faith is a gift from God given to us through the Holy Spirit. Our first reading from the Second Book of Kings gives us an example. After Naaman is healed of leprosy through the intersession of Elisha, he wants to give Elisha a gift. Elisha, a man of God, refuses. He will not take credit for what God has done. Inspired by Elisha’s dedication to God, Naaman wants to take two mule loads of dirt with him so he can forever serve the God of Elisha. Elisha’s God has become his own God.
In the Gospel Jesus cures ten lepers. Only one, a Samaritan comes back to give thanks. The Jewish nine did not. What is interesting is that the Samaritan alone comes back. The one disliked by the Jewish nine. What makes for the difference here between the one and the nine?
As I ponder this question of why only the one came back, what comes to mind is that the Samaritan experienced God in his healing and like Naaman, was moved with gratitude. The others followed their ritual of telling the priest, but did not experience God’s love involved in their healing. Their hearts were closed.
The difference of the nine and the one, reminds us that while we come here to celebrate the ritual of the Holy Eucharist, that alone does not bring us closer to God. As we celebrate we are called to let the Spirit of Love move our hearts to come to sense the presence of God in the Eucharist as we, a community of faith gather and pray.
As we leave here we should want to take humus, the humility, the dirt of God with us, to love and serve God in conscious awareness at all times. We don’t come to do a ritual act alone. We come to celebrate and be transformed in the experience of God. We go forth then to live in gratitude and faith, united to the living God who first loved us. A love we receive and return in good times and bad.
This week, let us pray: 'Come, Spirit of God, and renew our hearts in the power of your love. May we know you in all things, and may the peace and love of your presence be our gift back to you and to all peoples. Amen.’