“And, one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God
in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him.”
What prompted this one man in ten to turn back to Jesus as soon as he realized the scourge of leprosy had vanished? Had the group discerned what they ought to do: continue as instructed to go to the priests, run rejoicing to show themselves to their families, or go back to thank Jesus? Was it only this one that figured out it was Jesus that had healed them? We’ll never know. What we do know, according to the story, is that Jesus noticed that only one returned in gratitude and that the grateful one “glorified God in a loud voice!” And, as Jesus pointed out, this one was a foreigner.
I am reminded of the words of Hosea, the words that inspired the Weston Priory hymn: “Come back to me with all your heart, don’t let fear keep us apart.” It took courage for the now-cleansed man to retrace his steps back to Jesus, to publicly – loudly – glorify God and proclaim his thanks to Jesus. Deep in his heart he must have sensed the spirit of the words of Hosea: “Come back to me.”
This week we will be praying for the success of humanitarian efforts. We ask God’s blessing on the people and the projects intended to relieve the scourge of the contemporary leprosies of poverty, hunger, homelessness, unemployment – the scourge of trying to rebuild lives and homes and villages after fires, floods, tornadoes, earthquakes, tsunamis.
With Jesus, with God, as our touchstone, all of us, not just those involved in notable humanitarian projects, will often “turn back” to glorify God – to give thanks for every success in our efforts. Few successes will be as spectacular as being cleansed of leprosy – but we keep turning back to give thanks for God’s working among us and throughout the world. Media sources are to be commended for reporting “pay it forward deeds” – “random acts of kindness” – highlighting the charity of sports and movie stars and corporations. Maybe, like Jesus, we wonder “where are the other nine?” And, the cynic in us may question the givers’ motivations. But, like Jesus, we have to move beyond that reaction and give credit where credit is due. With Jesus we say “stand up, keep up the good work – your faith has saved you.”
For ourselves, we say: Lord, I do believe. Please, Sir, help my unbelief! Cleanse us of our cynicism and pessimism. Open our eyes to your miraculous actions among us. Move us to great gratitude for the goodness in nature and in the generous nature of our sisters and all who work to relieve the suffering of “leprosy” in our times. Remind us to take the time to heed your call to “turn back” with all our hearts. Take our fears away and instill in us your courage to face and shape our future. Give success to the work of our hands – Lord, give success to our work. Thank you!
~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB
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