Oblates of St. Francis de Sales

New DeSales World Newsletter - Summer Edition

28TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (October 14, 2007)

Suggested Emphasis

"Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him."

Salesian Perspective

Let's admit it: when something good happens to us most of us feel that we deserve it. The nine "lepers" in today's gospel likely felt the same way; they asked Jesus for mercy, which in the Middle Eastern culture meant, "Do what you can for us." They received from Jesus what they knew, by his reputation alone, he could do for them. Certainly, the lesson of being grateful is a familiar one. However, let's look at this Gospel in context of what came before and after this Gospel.

Last week, Jesus told us that when we do what is expected of us we have done no more than our duty. The author even goes so far as to have Jesus say, "We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done." This seems to be in stark contrast to this week's gospel that exhorts us to be grateful when someone else does "what they are obligated to do." One might say, culturally, therefore, that since Jesus could, he should. Next week's gospel proclaims the "need to pray always and not to lose heart."

In last week's Gospel, the apostles asked for "an increase of faith." Next week, Jesus will seem quite disturbed about people's faith when He says, "And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"

A common western notion of illness is that it is more of an impediment that prevents us from being active and engaged in life. In the Mediterranean culture, "Illness removes a person from status and disturbs kinship patterns. People who suffer from the skin problem called 'leprosy' are excluded from the worshiping community. This human experience was much more depressing than the skin lesions." (John Pilch, The Cultural Dictionary of the Bible). Jesus made all ten "clean," but "one of them...saw that he was healed...." His skin condition was not only gone; but more importantly to the Middle Eastern man, he was reunited to the community.

Francis de Sales discusses the "inspirations" toward faith in Book 2 of his Treatise on the Love of God: "The inspiration (that) comes like a sacred wind to impel us into the air of holy love; it takes hold of our will and moves it by a sentiment of heavenly delight. All this...is done in us but without us, for it is God's favor that prepares us in this way. That very inspiration and favor which has caught hold of us mingles its action with our consent, animates our feeble movements by its own strength and enlivens our frail cooperation by the might of its operation. Thus will it aid us, lead us on, and accompany us from love to love until we attain to the act of most holy faith required for our conversion." Did this happen to the man who came back? What does the Gospel say: "(he) turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him." (NRSV) Was he merely grateful for being freed from a skin disease, as the others were cleansed? I suggest that his heartfelt gratitude was in recognizing that he was given the "inspiration" toward faith. He consented to that inspiration and in doing so was full of praise for Jesus! "Then Jesus said to the Samaritan, "Get up and go on your way; your faith has been your salvation." (NAB)

Rev. Michael S. Murray, OSFS, is the Executive Director of the De Sales Spirituality Center.