In this Sunday\u2019s reading we hear of the famous story of Christ healing 10 lepers. This miracle is prefigured by the healing of the leper Naaman in the time of the prophet Elisha.<\/p>\n
Our first reading from the Second Book of Kings begins in the middle of the drama when Naaman goes down into the river Jordan. However, a few verses prior we see how in ancient times the healing of leprosy was seen as a power reserved for God. Naaman sends a letter to the king of Israel asking to be cured, and upon reading the letter the king \u201ctore his clothes and said, \u2018Am I God that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy?\u2019\u201d (2 Kings 5:7). Nevertheless, through the prophet Elisha, God does heal Naaman of his infirmities.<\/p>\n
Now a word on Elisha. He succeeded Elijah as God\u2019s prophet. Before Elijah was taken to heaven Elisha asked that he might \u201cinherit a double share of [Elijah\u2019s] spirit\u201d (2 Kings 2:9), which was granted to him. He then went on to perform many great deeds by the power of the God\u2019s Spirit. Let us turn to the first century AD, to the figure of John the Baptist. John preaches a baptism of repentance and prepares the way of the Lord. It was prophesied that when the Messiah comes Elijah would precede him. After the Transfiguration, Jesus reveals to Peter, James, and John that John the Baptist stood in the place of Elijah as the one who prepares the way of the Lord (see Mt 17:10-13). Here we see a remarkable parallel between Old Testament and New. John, the new Elijah, is followed by Christ, the new Elisha. As Elisha surpassed Elijah in spirit and deed, how much more would the Messiah surpass the Baptist?<\/p>\n
Christ, the new Elisha, therefore surpasses all the prophets of the Old Testament. In fact he is the final prophet, who completely reveals God to mankind, for he himself is God Incarnate.<\/p>\n
Turning to this Sunday\u2019s Gospel, we see Jesus manifesting his divine power to heal not one, but 10 lepers. The Jews of Jesus\u2019 time would have had the same reaction as the king of Israel from the first reading: miraculous healings are a sign of the power of God, which is confirmed by the man who returns to Jesus, falls on his face and worships God (Lk 17:15-16). Except this man is not Jewish, but Samaritan.<\/p>\n
Let us head this as a warning not to be complacent or neglectful of responding to the works of God in our lives, but to recognize the marvelous things God has done for us and return to him with repentance and thanksgiving.<\/p>\n
Kevin Ponte<\/strong> –\u00a0St. Joseph Seminary, Edmonton, Alberta<\/p>\n Fot. Yasmine Arfaoui\/Unsplash.com<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2126,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,17,18],"tags":[142],"class_list":["post-2125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-strona-glowna-najnowsze","category-strona-glowna-slider","tag-kevin_ponte"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n