The book of Leviticus prescribed that in order to avoid contact with others, the leper had to shout “Unclean! Unclean!” as they passed by and couldn’t come within 50 yards of a healthy person. They were prohibited from entering towns, they were cut off from their family, they were barred from Temple worship. Theirs was a life of total isolation: no friendship or family, no sense of belonging, no affection. And in today’s gospel we meet 10 of them.
10 Lepers stood off at a distance and shouted to Jesus. But instead of shouting “Unclean” they cry out to be cleansed. “Jesus, master, have pity on us!” Their cry echoes so many of the psalms in which the suffering cry out to God for healing, strength, relief, protection, and forgiveness. And Jesus heard them and heeded their plea.
In Jewish law, in order for a leper to be readmitted to society, a priest had to declare them cured of their disease. So, Jesus told them to go and show themselves to the priests. And on their way to the priest, the 10 were miraculously healed.
Earlier in the Gospel of Luke an individual leper was healed by the Lord, and given the same instruction to show himself to the priest after he was healed. In the case of the 10 lepers, they are instructed to show themselves to the priest before the healing takes place, and they are healed on the way to the priest. It’s as if their obedience to the command of Jesus was the catalyst for their healing miracle.
And there’s a lesson for us there. All 10 lepers show obedience to the Master, all 10 are healed, for obedience to God is healing. Our first sin—the sin of Adam and Eve was one of disobedience. God told them, do not eat of the tree. And they disobeyed. They ate.
And every subsequent sin of ours—is one of disobedience. God tells us to guard our tongues and speak no evil—we disobey. God tells us to avoid gluttony and lust and greed and pride—and we disobey. Jesus tells us to love our enemy, forgive those who wrong us, feed the hungry, repent of our sins—and we disobey.
And whenever we disobey God—that introduces disorder—the world and our lives are not as they should be. Our souls are further wounded and diseased, our minds our clouded, our wills are weakened against further sins. And we require healing and mercy that can only come from God. And thanks be to God he offers us that healing and mercy lavishly. Especially in the Sacrament of Confession.
Disobedience brings disorder. But all 10 lepers in the Gospel story, obey, and all are healed. Obedience heals, as well. It heals our willfulness, our arrogance, it corrects the waywardness that is ours. Obedience reclaims the trust we are to have in our creator, to realign our hearts to his. Obedience brings the disordered will back under the dominion of God where it belongs.
Anyone who is serious about obtaining Everlasting Life in Heaven will do all he can to increase in the virtue of obedience to God. God give me perfect obedience to your Divine Laws and Holy Will. As one grows in the love of God—obedience becomes lighter than liberty, for His Will becomes our delight. For really, there is no joy to be found outside of the Holy Will of God.
So 10 lepers obey and receive healing. But then…next in the Gospel..we read about the one leper progresses beyond obedience, who returns to Jesus in thanksgiving. After recognizing that the miracle for which they had prayed and longed for had been granted, we would have expected that all 10 lepers would have returned rejoicing to Jesus as if he had raised them from the dead. After all, the curing of their disease meant a new life for them—a restoration to their communities and families and temple. But only one of the ten returned to thank the Lord. He falls on his face in gratitude.
When a parent tries to teach their small children to remember to say “thank you” when after receiving a gift, or if someone does an act of kindness, they usually explain, because it is the nice thing to do.
In Saint Thomas Aquinas’ discussion of the virtues, he explained Justice is the virtue of rendering unto someone what is due to that person. We pay our debts because it is the just thing to do. We are faithful to a business contract, because it is the just thing to do. According to Aquinas, to fail to show gratitude by appropriate words, signs or symbols is a sin against justice. Gratitude is not just a kind thing to do, like icing on the cake—nice but unnecessary. Gratitude is demanded by justice.
What does the priest say, every single time mass is celebrated, as part of the eucharistic prayer, “It is right and just, our duty and our salvation to give God thanks.” Thanksgiving is demanded by justice. And it gratitude to God is modeled by the Lord himself. As part of the consecration what does the priest say, also, every time mass is celebrated, Jesus took bread, and gave thanks. He took the chalice, and again gave thanks.
Ten lepers were cleansed, but only one fulfilled the demand of Justice, returning to the Lord "throwing himself on his face at the feet of Jesus" and giving him thanks.
This leper becomes a model for us—he is a model for all Christians. Recognizing the healing that God has worked in our life—we must return to God to give thanks. Every day. Look at the healing God worked in your life, and thank Him. Do not allow yourself to become ungrateful before God. How sad. How terrible is ingratitude.
Chesterton said, “The worst moment for an atheist is when he is really thankful and has no one to thank.” We act atheistically when we are ungrateful. Ingratitude is poison, it begets atheists. Atheists are born from ingratitude. So it should not surprise us, as atheism and irreligion have increased in our culture—that Ingratitude is one of, if not the defining characteristics of our culture. A man who is ungrateful to God will soon treat his fellow man with disdain.
One way we show our gratitude to God is at Holy Mass of course. The word Eucharist—Eucharistia—means thanksgiving. We come to Mass week after week, not to be entertained, but to fulfill our duty to God—to thank Him—to thank Jesus--for the gift of our salvation.
Additionally, each week, we do well to get to Mass early, in order to call to mind those additional blessings for which we need to thank God: health, family, material security, the strength we needed to get through that really awful day last week, the grace I needed to bite my tongue when I could have really let loose, the wonderful company I’ve shared lately, the new skills I’ve developed. We do well to count our blessings in the presence of God, and to unite our gratitude with the holy sacrifice of the altar.
But gratitude needs to be more than lip service, no? Gratitude for blessings received is to spill over into our activities: in good works, acts of kindness, goodness, and beauty.
Ingratitude may be one of our defining vices, but gratitude is a virtue that can be developed, practiced, expressed, and shown. And it is the key to happiness. The grateful soul is a joyful soul. Why are the saints so joyful? Because they have made gratitude to God so central to their identity. Their life is a grateful response to their salvation in Christ.
With the help of the saints, may we cultivate joy by cultivating gratitude, good works, and obedience, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
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