Putting a Face on Our Faith
Today’s gospel passage is a concrete example of faith, on which we meditated last Sunday. Responding to the theme on faith, Jesus, in a way, demonstrates that faith is totally based on the person of Christ, the Son of God. Now faith is not an abstract thing. We can put a face to our faith, and it is the face of Jesus Christ. Saint Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, tells the people of Ephesus that now they have faith because they have met the true God in Christ (Eph: 2:12-13).
Luke gives us a story about the 10 lepers who came to Jesus for His help. Lepers were like the ‘living dead’ at the time of Jesus. They were kept away from all people and civilization because they were regarded as ‘contamination to the world’. The popular belief was that lepers were cursed by God for their many sins. Hence, they were being isolated by people and abandoned by God.
Luke refers to Leprosy in today’s story, as a symbol for human sin. He mentions that there were 10 lepers. Ten is the number for totality (all humanity). Therefore, Luke is telling us that humanity sinned and has separated itself from God. Sin separates us from God and from each other. None of us is righteous and all of us have been infected by the leprosy of sin. In this situation, we can be helped only by God. In the parable, the 10 meet Jesus, who is the presence of God to our humanity. Jesus brings us healing and our salvation.
In the story, the lepers keep their distance from Jesus and shout to Him to ‘have mercy on them’. We should recognize our sinfulness that creates distance and separation from God. The lepers did not ask for healing, but, rather, for His compassion and mercy. Sin isolates us from the love and compassion of God’s presence. By healing the lepers, Jesus is showing us that He has come to bring us back to God.
What should be our response to God’s mercy of healing? The Samaritan gives us an example through his gesture of gratitude. The Samaritan praises God for sending His only Son into this world to bring salvation (healing) to this world. He recognizes that Jesus must become the focus of our faith in God. The Samaritan now has faith because he has met Jesus and experienced His salvation.
Luke presents this parable to us that we may recognize the need of Jesus in our lives. The lepers were healed on their journey back to the temple. They trusted the words that came from the mouth of Christ. It is when we frequent the word of Christ in the breaking of the word and through the breaking of the bread, we find the healing transformation of our lives. Let our faith bring us to the temple of God (Kingdom of God), while we contemplate on our pilgrimage, the Divine Word.
-Father Ranjan D’Sa OCD