“Something Greater” by Rev.
Paul Berghout (@FatherPB)
Piety
Through him we have
received the grace of apostleship, to bring about the obedience of faith, for
the sake of his name, among all the Gentiles, among whom are you also, who are
called to belong to Jesus Christ; to all the beloved of God in Rome, called to be
holy. Grace to you and peace from God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 1:5-7
At the judgment, the
queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation, and she will
condemn them because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of
Solomon, and there is something greater than Solomon here. At the judgment, the
men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because at the
preaching of Jonah they repented, and there is something greater than Jonah
here. Luke 11:31-32
Study
In Sunday’s Good News,
Jesus did not say, “Be made clean,” so that “leprosy left them immediately”
(Luke 5:3). Instead, he tells them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests,”
sending them off unhealed. “As they were going, they were cleansed.” Luke 17:14
When God says “Go”
that’s a complete sentence.
As they went, the blessing
came—cleansing them.
Sometimes it is hard to
wait; we want instant results with diets, grades, etc.
That also is why in
Sunday’s reading Naaman balked. Elisha instructs Naaman to wash in the Jordan
seven times. But, Naaman was expecting hands-on treatment or something more
complicated. He went away angry, but he is told by his assistant to follow the
simple instructions of plunging into the Jordan river seven times. Only after
doing that, did Naaman find healing.
The word “miracle” comes
from a Latin word meaning “something wonderful by divine intervention.”
There is a lesson for us
here. Jesus heals the lepers, but only in the course of their acting with
obedience and faith to what Jesus says. Something wonderful will result.
“Where are the other
nine?” That is Jesus’ question to us.
Speaking of one out of
ten. I read that nine out of ten husbands agreed that their wives are always
right. No one has seen the tenth one since the end of the study.
The Eucharist is public
thanks! Jesus is the true God. We shall live our lives in perpetual
thanksgiving and praise. The Samaritan leper, who Jesus healed, personally
thanked the Lord. The Greek word used to describe his giving thanks is the very
same word that we translate as “Eucharist.”
The lesson: It is one
thing to feel grateful; it is another thing to express it. A clear indication
is that Jesus expects us to show gratitude, publicly, in the Mass. The Third
Commandment says keep holy the Lord’s Day, which is why there is a Sunday Mass
obligation. If you stay at home and think that you can thank God privately, you
are deceiving yourself.
This week, during the
weekday readings, we begin reading Paul’s Letter to the Romans. After a
powerful introduction, Paul writes to this community in Rome about God’s
righteousness (mercy or kindness). He also preaches about justification (making
us holy or one with God), which comes to us, not through the law but faith in
Jesus. That is just what we saw Sunday with the ten lepers.
In Romans 1:21 (during
Tuesday’s Mass), we learn: “For although they knew God, they did
not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their
thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”
Each day, like today, we
move through Luke’s gospel reading about people gathered around Jesus. Today,
Jesus refuses to “give a sign other than the sign of Jonah.” Was cleansing the
leper not enough?
Later this week, Jesus
will be at a Pharisee’s house calling for authenticity: “give alms, and
everything will be clean for you.”
Action
Jesus challenges the
religious practices of the Pharisees, which miss the heart of fidelity to God
and mercy toward others. Jesus tries to get them to see that, while they honor
the prophets, they are no better than their ancestors who ignored and killed
the prophets. Instead of hearing him, the religious leaders plot to trap Jesus.
Warning his disciples about imitating religious hypocrisy, Jesus tells them not
to be afraid, even of death, but to only fear losing their souls. Acknowledging
Jesus is enough to save us. When we make our defense of our faith and way of
life, the Holy Spirit will teach us what to say.[i]
We like the good things
that we get in this world, but we do not associate them with Jesus’ healing
presence in the Eucharist.
After receiving healing
through the mediation of Jesus, this Samaritan returns to worship God at a new
place, at the feet of Jesus. At the foot of the tabernacle. At the foot of the
Sacrificial Eucharistic Altar. As for being at someone’s feet, this is always a
way of acknowledging authority.
The Samaritan leper
thought to himself: The certification process of verifying the healing by the
priest could wait. Right now, it is the time to offer testimony and praise!
Everything else can wait.
Though ten lepers
experience miraculous healing, nine of them miss “salvation” because the
“seeing” not the healing is decisive. The narrator intends a sharp critique of
the belief in healing miracles—which cannot be identical with salvation itself.
One of the ten lepers,
realizing that Jesus healed him, started praising God publicly in gratitude and
thanksgiving-- that is the biblical model. We cannot stay at home and thank God
privately.
The louder you called
for help, all the louder you should praise God publicly.
Amen.
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