Fr Paul Gooley reads from the Gospel of Luke (17: 11-19) in which Jesus heals ten lepers but only one returns to say thank you.

Today, we hear in the gospel about the cure of 10 lepers of which only one, the Samaritan, an enemy of the Jews, comes back and thanks Jesus. Gratitude is another typical theme in Luke and we are challenged by Luke to live with gratitude and to praise and thank God for everything that God has blessed us with.

We are told that Jesus is passing through Samaria to Jerusalem so he is in an area that is not predominantly Jewish and this would have brought great excitement to Luke’s communities which are in mainly pagan territory.

A leper was a person who was excluded, marginalized, and despised. They had no right to live with their family and they had to wander around in torn clothes calling out, ‘Unclean, unclean’. To be cured meant that they could be integrated back into the community. So, with faith in Jesus, they are sent to the priests who will witness that they have been cured.

The Samaritan who comes back and thanks Jesus, represents the person, like yesterday’s gospel told us, who is a humble servant of God. The Samaritan is a model for us of gratitude and love towards others and towards God.

In closing, Fr Paul asks us to reflect, Do I sincerely say thank you to others? When I pray do I say thank you to God?