Gospel. Lk.
17: 11-19.
Jesus cures Ten Lepers.
They are asked to show themselves to the priests. On their way they are cured.
But only one returns to thank the Lord.
Reflection.
With this readings invite
us to serve the Lord in thanks giving and gratitude. Even though we may not be
lepers, fallen ill or been cured we still ought to thank the Lord for what He
has been to us. Even if we were to forget the redemption brought by him we
still ought to thank for our birth and our continual existence. What if our
lives were to end at this very moment? How sad we would be to leave this world
and our loved ones and the things both near and dear to us. That is why we
should show our gratitude to the Lord by being grateful to Him. The best way to
show our gratitude to the Lord is to accept Christ as our Lord and master and
to totally dedicate our lives to Him. In other words we should serve Him by way
of spreading the good News and bearing witness to the kingdom of God. This is
shown quite clearly in the readings of Today. In the Gospel ten lepers go
before Jesus and ask him to cure them of their illness. Jesus, seeing their
faith advised them to go before the priests. An action, that is done only by
those who are cured. The lepers follow the Lord’s instructions. On their way
they are cured and one of them came back to thank the Lord. He wanted to show
his gratitude to the Lord. Out of the ten only one came back to thank the Lord
and that too was a foreigner. The Lord appreciated his gratitude.
2Kgs.5: 14-17. On the advice of the Prophet Elisha Naman the Syrian dips seven times in the pool and is cured of his leprosy. Now he wishes to give a gift to the prophet but the prophet would not accept and the Syrian wishes to be faithful to the Lord through his life. 2 Tim. 2: 8-13. St. Paul writes to timothy as to why he is faithful to the Lord. Because St. Paul is faithful he wishes to preach the Good News and even endure suffering for the sake of the Lord.
In 2Kgs.5: 14-17 reading
Naman the Syrian who is a leper goes before the prophet to be cured. The
prophet directs him to dip seven times in the pool and at his servant’s request
and pleading Naman dips in the pool and is cured. He comes back to the prophet
to thank him and wishes to give him a present but the prophet would not accept
it. And then Naman, promises to be faithful to the Lord for the rest of his
life.
In 2 Tim. 2: 8-13 reading it
is St. Paul, the only Apostle chosen directly by the Risen Lord; out of
gratitude, so dedicated to the Lord that he wishes to endure any hardship or
suffering in order to spread the Good News. Here he writes to timothy about the
resurrection of Jesus which is the crowning act of redemption. He wishes
that all be faithful to the Lord out of gratitude and share his task of
spreading the Good News in word and deed. Therefore let us too, show our
gratitude to the Lord by way of dedicating our lives to the service of the Lord
whatever our vocation is.
Aid Story.
In 1886 in one of the
Prussian- Austrian war stained with blood the prince Antela was wounded and his
army retreated disgracefully. He kept asking for death hour after hour. One
night he was found by a Prussian solider. “Kill me, Kill me” said the prince.
The solider being a catholic carried the prince to a hospital. The prince got
well and in gratitude gave his gold watch to the solider. After a very long
time, a beggar comes to the palace begging. The prince meets him in the forest
and has a long chat with him. And during the conversation that man takes out a
gold watch to see the time. “That watch is mine.” says, the Prince. How did you
come to get it? The man tells the old story. In spite of the
vicissitude of misery he did not want to part with it. The princes recognize
him. Embraces him and says, “Stay with me; you will be the chief steward of my
castle.
Aid Story 2.
Sitting by the widow in
her convent Sr. Eulalia opened a letter from her home and found a ten dollar
bill inside. Immediately, she remembered the shabbily dressed beggar leaning
against the lamp post below. Out of charity; quickly she wrote “Don’t despair
Sr. Eulalia” on a piece of paper wrapped the ten dollars and dropped it out of
the window. The stranger picked it up and immediately went away. The next day
Sr. Eulalia was told that there was a stranger at the door to meet her. It was
the beggar near the lamp post. He handed her a role of bills, 60 bucks and
said, The Horse; “Don’t Despair” won by a nose in the fifth and paid five to
one. All this is what you won.”
Wrote by Rev. Fr. Ciswan De Croos.
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