This Sunday's readings present us with two examples of this mercy: the healing of Naaman and of the ten lepers. Naaman was a general of the King of Aram, a Gentile. He was afflicted with leprosy and desperate for a cure, turned to Elisha, the prophet, even though the Arameans were carrying out raids against the Israelites. "Naaman went down and plunged into the Jordan seven times at the word of Elisha, the man of God" (2 Kings 5:14). And he was healed.
Likewise, ten lepers interrupted Jesus on His way to Jerusalem, His way to the Cross. They cried out from a distance "Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!" (Luke 17:15). And Jesus did. He sent them away and all ten were cured of their leprosy. Only the Samaritan leper, however, returned to thank Jesus.
We can learn a lot about responding to God's mercy from these two passages. Every human ever born (except for Jesus and Mary) entered the world stained with original sin. And as we get older, we add to the sin of Adam with our own sins. Leprosy is an analog for sin: it dirties, it decays, and it causes isolation. In the Bible, leprosy describes a number of skin diseases that mark the body just like sin sullies the soul. We associate leprosy with skin falling off, a physical decay that mirrors the spiritual death brought on by sin. Finally, sin separates us from God just like leprosy separated men from the rest of society. The lepers were, in the words of St. Cyril, "banished from the towns and cities, and counted unclean according to the rites of the Mosaic law."
Before they could be healed of their disease, both Naaman and the ten lepers had to ask for help. They could not cure themselves; Jesus points out this folly to the pharisees: "And He said to them, 'You will surely quote to me this proverb, Physician, heal yourself" (Luke 4:23). Likewise, we cannot forgive our own sins. Naaman needed Elisha, the man of God. The ten lepers needed Christ just as we need Him today.
By presenting their visible afflictions to God, Naaman and the lepers were making a sort of primitive Confession. They bared their flesh in the same way we bare our hearts in the confessional. Naaman "plunged into the Jordan seven times". When he came out, "His flesh became again like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean." (2 Kings 5:14). Washing himself in the Jordan was both physically and spiritually purgative. The lepers were "cleansed" (Luke 17:14) on their way to present themselves to the high priest. When we receive absolution, our own hearts are plunged into the Jordan, the waters of Christ's baptism, and we emerge with the clean heart of a child.
Despite the miracle of their healing, nine of the lepers never returned to thank Jesus. Their ingratitude betrays a lack of faith: "For although they knew God they did not accord Him glory as God or give Him thanks" (Romans 1:21). And we see God's mercy here. Jesus, being omniscient, knew this would happen. He knew that He would heal these men only to have them run away. But He still healed them. He loved them while allowing them to choose not to respond to that love.
How many times have we been those nine lepers? How often do we approach God on our knees, in our darkest hours, begging "Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!" and then once saved, we utterly forget the mercy of God and return to past sins? Do we come back to the confessional again and again with the same sins without making any efforts to amend our lives? Lord, forgive us for our ingratitude, for seeking pity and comfort instead of new life.
We must take as models Naaman and the tenth leper. After "his flesh became again like the flesh of a child, and he was clean of his leprosy", Naaman came back to Elisha and confessed the greatness of God: "Now I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel" (2 Kings 5:14-15). The tenth leper "realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him" (Luke 17:15-16). Note that the Church fathers universally identify the other nine lepers as being Jews. Christ was their Messiah, foretold by their prophets. They had a much greater obligation to return to thank Jesus. And yet it was the Samaritan alone who came back. Such was his faith. His falling at the feet of Jesus is what St. Catherine of Sienna calls the "slavish fear" of conversion.
Simultaneous with their gratitude and praise, Naaman and the tenth leper resolved to change their lives. Naaman, a great general, recognized that God's "right hand and holy arm have won the victory" (Psalm 98:1) and promised to only offer sacrifices to the Lord of Israel. St. Bede writes of the tenth leper that "he is commended to rise and walk, because he who, knowing his own weakness, lies lowly on the ground, is led to advance, by the consolation of the divine word, to mighty deeds."
Let us therefore hear Christ's words to the tenth leper as being addressed to each one of us. "Stand and go, your faith has saved you" (Luke 17:19). The Gospel is not limited to the historical time that Christ spoke them: "the word of God is not chained" (2 Timothy 2:9). Brothers and sisters, let us stand and "sing joyfully to the Lord" (Psalm 98:4), proclaiming the mercy of God.
We are in the Jubilee Year of Mercy. Let us be like Naaman and the tenth leper and respond to Christ's mercy with repentance and spiritual renewal. Remember that "if we persevere, we shall also reign with Him. But if we deny Him, He will deny us" (2 Tim 2:12).
DEUS VULT!
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