11th NOVEMBER. WEDNESDAY OF WEEK 32.

1st Reading: Wisdom 6:1-11

God, as Creator of everything, provides for all alike

Listen therefore, O kings, and understand; learn, O judges of the ends of the earth.

Give ear, you that rule over multitudes, and boast of many nations. For your dominion was given you from the Lord, and your sovereignty  from the Most High; he will search out your works and inquire into your plans. Because as servants of his kingdom you did not rule rightly, or keep the law, or walk according to the purpose of God, he will come upon you terribly and swiftly because severe judgment falls on those in high places. For the lowliest may be pardoned in mercy, but the mighty will be mightily tested.

For the Lord of all will not stand in awe of anyone, or show deference to greatness; because he himself made both small and great, and he takes thought for all alike. But a strict inquiry is in store for the mighty. To you then, O monarchs, my words are directed, so that you may learn wisdom and not transgress. For they will be made holy who observe holy things in holiness, and those who have been taught them will find a defense. Therefore set your desire on my words; long for them, and you will be instructed.

Gospel: Luke 17:11-19

Of ten lepers healed, only one returned to give thanks

On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samari and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying , " Jesus, Master, have mercy on us! When he saw them, he said to them, "God and show yourselves toe the priests." And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, " were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" Then he said to him," Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well."

REFLECTIONS AND MEDITATIONS ON THE READINGS

The Cleansing of the Ten Lepers

Marcus Cicero says: " Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues but the parent of all others."

Today's gospel passage presents to us the story of ten lepers, nine were Jews and one was a Samaritan, whom Jesus healed of their leprosy. We are all aware that leprosy was an abominable disease at that time. Lepers were banned from mingling with the healthy. Therefore from a distance these ten lepers called out Jesus for healing. When they were healed, only one out of ten went back to Jesus and gave Him thanks. Where ware are the other nine?

Thankfulness seems to be a lost art today. We can put this question across, that why the rest nine were ingratitude to Jesus despite the fact that they were all healed and their healthy restored? was it their sudden return to good healthy that distracted the other nine so that they forgot about Jesus and failed in the normal human courtesy of returning to thank Jesus for their cure. Strangely enough, God's finest gifts- life, strength, the ability to think imaginatively and to act creatively- easily become the means by which we forget God and also forget to serve our neighbors. With good reason the Book of Wisdom warns us about the proper use of life and talents. It admonished us that the Lord made the great as well as the small, and provides for all alike; but that a tougher scrutiny awaits people of power and influence.

Graced and grateful

We have all been graced in various ways; we have all received a great deal as a gift. We don't always recognize that the ultimate source of all these graces and gift is God. That is what distinguished the Samaritan leper from the other nine in today's gospel. All ten were equally graced; they had all been healed by Jesus of a disease that left them only half- alive. Yet, it is said of only one of them that, finding himself cured, he " turned back praising God at the top of his voice." He threw himself at the feet of Jesus and thanked him because he recognized that God was working through Jesus. He thanked Jesus, but he praised God. He had the insight and vision that God was at work in his healing.  This leper had vision of faith;  he recognized God at work in the good that had happened to him, in the extraordinary way he had been graced. We are all called to that same vision of faith; we are called to recognize and to acknowledge God at work in all those experiences of grace that bless us in the course of our lives.

Jesus in today's gospel is breaking down the barriers that tend to separate people under the basis of religion, social and political affiliation. A thing that seemed not to have been performed by a stranger becomes possible to the eyes of those who believed to have been righteous. Jesus word's in today's gospel are giving us encouragement that the Samaritans who were the most despised people could have true faith. What about ourselves? how do we tend to value people who don't belong to our tribe, religion, family or nation? do we see anything positive in them? Thus we learn a lesson that faith in Jesus Christ is not restricted to some boundaries, faith in Jesus Christ is universal. Regardless of tribal, and religious affiliation, whoever wills to submit totally to Jesus Christ will be saved.