Your faith has saved you

 Twenty-eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C - 9th October 2022

Luke 17: 11–19

On the way to Jerusalem Jesus travelled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered one of the villages, ten lepers came to meet him. They stood some way off and called to him, “Jesus! Master! Take pity on us.”

When he saw them he said, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” Now as they were going away they were cleansed. Finding himself cured, one of them turned back praising God at the top of his voice, and threw himself at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. The man was a Samaritan. This made Jesus say, “Were not all ten made clean? The other nine, where are they? It seems that no one has come back to give praise to God, except this foreigner.”And he said to the man, “Stand up and go on your way. Your faith has saved you.”

...Praising God

Gospel Reflection from St Beuno's Outreach

I spend some moments entering, once again, the stillness that is being offered to me through this time of prayer.

I might like to pray this text imaginatively. I ask for the help of the Holy Spirit. Then, I read the gospel and ‘enter it’ with my mind’s eye.

I see what is happening and hear what is being said: the reactions of the crowd, the desperation of the lepers, the ‘pity’ of Jesus.

What am I noticing?

What is it like for the ten to live as outcasts, on the edges of the villages, along the borders of places? Then, to be accepted by Jesus and caught up in the moments of being healed?

I watch the Samaritan move off with the other nine, then return joyfully to Jesus to give thanks. Before, he stood a long way off; now, he can throw himself at Jesus’s feet.

And how does Jesus feel to be remembered in that moment?

I reflect on my own spiritual life. What is my own experience of the compassion and mercy of God? Do I really perceive all life as coming from God’s goodness? Do I praise God only in joyful moments?

Can I also be grateful even in the midst of suffering?

I remain at the Lord’s feet for some time, listening to what he might be saying about my faith.

I end with a sign of the cross.

Click here to read or listen to a One-Minute Homily on today's Gospel from the Jesuit Post