JESUS, TAKE PITY ON US

XXVIII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Luke 17:11-19

Both the first reading and the gospel speak of lepers and their healing. Naaman, a foreign dignitary, was healed by the prophet Elisha. After his healing, Naaman returned to the prophet with gifts in thanksgiving. Elisha refused to accept the gifts. He did not want to gain profit from the miracle he had performed. The praise and the thanksgiving should go to the Lord God alone. And Naaman proclaimed in recognition that “there is no God in all the earth except in Israel.” (2 Kings 5:14-17). In the gospel, ten lepers went to Jesus and, appealing to Jesus’ compassion, asked to be healed. Jesus was always ready to act and relieve people of their suffering. So, he ordered them to go and present themselves to the priests for their healing to be recognised and be accepted back in their communities. They were healed and in full health. Noticing their full recovery, one of them went back to Jesus, “praising God at the top of his voice” and prostrating himself in adoration before Jesus. “The man was a Samaritan. This made Jesus say, ‘Were not all ten made clean? The other nine, where are they? It seems that no one has come back to give praise to God, except this foreigner.”

From these two passages, we learn that God has a universal purpose, showing favour to all those who are ready to receive his gifts and allow themselves to be touched by Him. There is no exclusivity or discrimination in God’s plans. The two foreigners – Naaman and the Samaritan – recognised God’s grace and professed their faith in the God who had compassion on them. By contrast, the people of Israel of Naaman’s time and the Jews of Jesus’ time showed unwillingness to recognise God’s favour and make a public profession of faith.

In the gospel, we can learn another important truth: being favoured with a miracle is not enough to be saved. We must proclaim our faith and be thankful for God’s kindness and mercy. Ten lepers had been cured of their disease, but only one came back to Jesus, and only this one heard the words of salvation: “Your faith has saved you.”

Let us give thanks to the Lord and prostrate ourselves before Jesus so that we may hear his words: “Your faith has saved you.”

WE ARE MERELY SERVANTS

XXVII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Habakkuk 1:2-3, 2:2-4

Time and again, in the Scriptures, we see people crying out to God because they feel as if God has forgotten and abandoned them. That’s a common experience that we all go through. There are moments of hardship and suffering that bring a terrible feeling of loneliness, which may lead us to despair. And we question God, waiting for answers that don’t arrive. In spite of that, we go on looking for answers.

Abraham complained to God about being childless, questioning God about the usefulness of the promise if he did not have a son to inherit that promise. He also had the audacity to plead for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. That audacity was not born of arrogance but of full trust in God as a merciful God.

Then, with Jacob, we find someone who dared to wrestle with God in the darkness of the night. It is the wrestling of life, trying to overcome powers and beings that put us into question. Early in the morning, it dawned on him that he was wrestling with God. Jacob represents humanity that goes through moments of darkness, wrestling with unknown powers, until it dawns on us that we are wrestling with God, from whom we demand a blessing that makes life possible and meaningful.

The whole book of Job is about the suffering of the innocent who doesn’t understand the reasons behind his suffering and questions God about it. Job foreshadows Christ, the suffering servant, who addresses God with a question that so many others would ask: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Habakkuk presents the same attitude, presenting this question before God: “How long, O Lord, am I to cry for help while you will not listen; to cry ‘Oppression!’ in your ear and you will not save?” Like the psalm (Ps 22), prayed by Jesus on the cross, Habakkuk ends full of hope. God will fulfil his promise, and he has not forgotten us. He wrote our names in the palms of his hands (Is 49:16).

In scriptures of Islam and in its traditions, we find a completely different attitude. We cannot question God, and we must accept whatever Allah brings our way. Before Allah, one cannot ask questions or complain. The only possible attitude is compliance. And Allah is a whimsical god who can change his mind at any moment. In Allah, we find a raw power that must be affirmed at any moment.

It is true that Jesus came as a servant who is ready to do the Father’s will. Before God, we must humble ourselves and recognise our weaknesses and shortcomings. As servants, like Jesus, who came to serve, we must do faithfully what is asked of us. “When you have done all you have been told to do, say, ‘We are merely servants: we have done no more than our duty.’” (Lk 17:10).