YOUR FAITH HAS SAVED YOU
Ten lepers are cured but only
one understands what he really needs
It takes courage to follow Christ. It also
takes the wisdom to perceive what is really necessary in our lives. This brings
me to a consideration of today's first reading as well as the Gospel. Both
Scripture passages refer to giving thanks to God our Father. Naaman, the
Syrian, thanks the God of the prophet Elisha - the God of Israel - for curing
him of leprosy. In Luke's Gospel, ten lepers are cured but only one understands
what he really needs and returns to Jesus to give thanks to God. This man, a
Samaritan, returns to praise Jesus, and, praising God, he throws himself at
Jesus' feet in deep gratitude. The man received more than a physical cure - he
received faith in Jesus.
We come to celebrate the Eucharist; we come to
offer together the prayer that means giving thanks to God. But this is
difficult for so many people who live throughout our community. So many people
are experiencing such terrible struggles, battles with their own forms of
leprosy. Some have chronic illnesses, some are dealing with situations they
cannot escape from, some are suffering from deep psychological scars that
affect every action of their lives; some are dealing with abuse, some of which
they inflicted on themselves and some of which others have inflicted on them.
However, through all the problems we each face in our lives, we still come to
celebrate the Eucharist. We come to give thanks to our heavenly Father. Why?
We come because we understand deep within
ourselves the meaning which, perhaps, we cannot express in words; the deep
truth of the four actions of the Lord when He gave us the Eucharist. Jesus took
bread, blessed it, broke it and gave it. St. Ignatius of Antioch said, "I am the bread of
Christ." We are all the "bread of Christ." He takes us, blesses
us and we become partakers in His divine life through our baptism. He breaks
us. He doesn't cause evil to befall us, but He uses the difficulties in our
lives to help us understand the true priorities of life.
God calls us to believe in Him as real, and
present, and faithful, not just when things are going well and it is easy to
believe. He calls us to believe when our experiences seem to contradict His
presence in our lives; when, like Jesus on the Cross, we feel forsaken. The
faith we have when we are bread broken flows from the eternal center of our
being where God dwells within our souls. Only one thing in life is guaranteed,
and that is the realization that we absolutely need God! Eternal, divine wisdom
consists in conforming our wants to this reality, to Him who is our one need.
In glorifying and giving thanks we are rooting ourselves in the ever deepening
awareness of our relationship with the gracious God who constantly acts on our
behalf to bring us to wholeness.
We come together to give thanks, to be a Eucharistic
people, to join the purification of our lives as bread broken to thank the One
who is Bread Eternal. This and every Eucharist is a fresh return to Christ who
heals us of our leprosies. His life gives meaning and purpose to our lives. His
presence within each of us is the greatest gift we can ever posses. The pains
and sufferings of our lives have value in helping us determine what is really
needed in life. As we say in the Preface today, "It is right O God, to
give You thanks and praise."
Let us give thanks to Jesus Christ who heals
us!