Leprosy was a death sentence in the ancient world. With no available cure, the leper was banished from society and forced to live as an outcast as his body slowly wasted away. Saint Gregory of Nyssa, an early Church father, described the disease as follows: “what words could describe the unsightly disfigurement of sufferers from leprosy. Gradually over all their limbs and organs of sensation rottenness spreads and devours them”. Another ancient writer, Aretaeus of Cappadocia, was even more lurid in his description: “sometimes, too, certain members of the patient will drop off, such as the nose, the fingers, the feet…; for the ailment does not prove fatal…until he has been divided limb from limb”. Thus, contracting leprosy ensured a horrible and hopeless existence.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus is travelling through the country-side when ten lepers, who stood at a distance,…lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us” (Lk 17:12-13). Their leprosy prevented them from approaching Jesus outright, but they still called to him, hoping that he would answer. Upon hearing the lepers, our Lord answered, “Go and show yourselves to the priests” (Lk 17:14). Showing himself before the priests was the way a leper could be declared ritually cleaned. If, upon inspection, the priest deemed the leper was cleansed of the disease, the priest would declare the leper clean (Lev 13:12-17). As the lepers were on their way to be inspected, “they were cleansed” (Lk 17:14). Rejoicing in their new found freedom, they continued onward. Only one, however, returned to thank our Lord. To him our Lord said, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well” (Lk 17:19).
In this story, all the lepers were cleansed from their leprosy. However, Jesus only tells one – the Samaritan – “that your faith has made you well”. Jesus might have cured the bodily ailments of the other lepers, but only the Samaritan was made well in his spirit. Why? Because the Samaritan worshipped our Lord. Only God is to be worshipped. Therefore, in worshipping Jesus the Samaritan was professing Jesus’ divinity. In other words, the Samaritan believed that Jesus was the Son of God, worshipped Him as Lord and was subsequently reconciled to God. The other lepers were cleansed in body, but only the Samaritan was cleansed in spirit.
For us, we must remember that faith in our Lord’s divinity heals our souls. Only by professing faith in Jesus as Lord can we be reconciled to God. And only if we are reconciled to God can we dwell with Him for all eternity. Leprosy, as Gregory of Nyssa and Aretaeus of Cappadocia testified, is a terrible disease. But worse still is separation from God. Therefore, let us always keep the divinity of Jesus before our eyes, that we might be reconciled to God and live.
Ian Mahood – St. Joseph Seminary, Edmonton, Alberta
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