TWENTY-EIGHTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
12 OCTOBER 2025
Naaman is an important and powerful leader in
the Kingdom of Aram. However, he has a
huge problem. He has the disease of
leprosy. Not only is it incurable in the
ancient world, but it is also contagious.
As a result, lepers not only are afflicted with terrible physical
pain. But they are also kept apart from
their community. He learns from his
Jewish slave girl that there is a healer in the Kingdom of Israel, an enemy of
his own country. Hoping against hope, he
goes to see the holy man, Elisha. When
Elisha tells him to bathe in the River Jordan, he balks. The rivers of his kingdom are much grander! But, he is so desperate that he obeys and
emerges healed. His response to his
healing is threefold. He returns to give
thanks to Elisha. In doing so, he
recognizes that the power does not come from the holy man, but from God. Because he sees that the land on which he is
standing is holy, he takes two mule loads of that earth back to Aram. In other words, he recognizes the power of
the one true God, and not his former pagan gods.
We do not know the names of the ten
lepers in today’s Gospel. But they have
the same problem that Naaman did. They
have an incurable and contagious disease that separates them from their loved
ones. Like Naaman, they have heard of a
healer who might help. Standing at a
distance, they cry out to Jesus, calling him “Master” and asking him to have
pity on them. Just as Elisha had given
Naaman a simple instruction, Jesus tells them to show themselves to the
priests. They are healed on their
way. Odds are pretty good that nine of
the lepers focus on the Law of Moses requiring healed lepers to be inspected by
the priests. They are so happy that they
throw away their filthy garments and run home to their families. But the Samaritan is a foreigner, like
Naaman. He glorifies God and returns to
give thanks to Jesus, falling at his feet.
That action suggests that he seen the truth about this healer. He does not carry away two mule loads of
earth. He leaves with a deep and abiding
faith that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the source of his salvation.
We come here today, because we are
like Naaman and the Samaritan leper. We
recognize God’s power and love in our lives.
We express our deepest gratitude by celebrating the Eucharist
together. That Greek word literally
means to give thanks. We gather every
Sunday to express our deepest gratitude to God, acknowledging that all that we
have is a gift from God. We are grateful
for our families, all the good things in our lives, our parish community, and
countless other blessings which we often take for granted. I am grateful for my successful visits to
Ireland and Rome in the last two weeks.
But we are especially grateful for what we are doing at this Altar. In the Eucharistic Prayer, we give thanks to
the Father for the sacrifice of Jesus made present on this Altar in our
liturgical remembering. That Mystery is
the source of our salvation and the ultimate hope that all of us share.
Saint Paul reminds us, as he does
Timothy, that we must be grateful for this central Mystery of our faith in
Jesus Christ, which brings us salvation.
In this Mystery, we share in his dying, confident that we will share in
his rising. Saint Paul acknowledges that
this is a difficult Mystery to live.
Sometimes we fail to share in the Lord’s dying. At other times, the difficulties of life
tempt us to wonder whether the Lord is truly present in our suffering. When we fail to live this mystery, we deny
him. But he remains faithful, even when
we are unfaithful. We don’t need to take
two mule loads of earth with us from this Mass.
Saint Paul insists that this Mystery is trustworthy. It is the conviction that God has breathed
life into us and is with us at every step in our journey. We do not need to scoop up two mule loads of
dirt from the ground of this church. We
just need to take our Gospel-centered gratitude with us as a daily
practice.
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