May Jesus Christ be
praised and may his holy Mother pray for us.
Our readings today
focus on healing, but they are not only about healing. In our first reading today from the second book of Kings, Naaman the Syrian was healed of
leprosy by bathing in the waters of the Jordan River. He had come from his homeland and from his
own kingdom where he worshiped the gods of his ancestors. He had come because he heard of the healing
power of the Prophet Elisha. Naaman made
known his illness to the prophet of God, and bathed in the waters at the
command of the prophet.
In the Gospel today,
ten lepers were healed of their sickness at the word of the Lord Jesus. On his way to Jerusalem, the Lord Jesus
passed through the land of Samaria and Galilee, and he entered a village. The lepers cried out to him, “Jesus, Master!
Have pity on us!” The ten lepers made
known their illness to the divine physician.
And the Lord Jesus commanded them, “Go show yourselves to the
priests.” As they walked following the
command of the Lord, the lepers were healed.
In both of our readings
today, the people who were sick recognized their own need to be healed. They knew their illness and they expressed
their need for healing. In faith they
believed in the power of the Lord to heal them.
Then, they followed the command of the Lord and were healed.
Every Sunday as we
gather for the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, we begin by asking God for
mercy. We confess to Almighty God that
we have sinned. We admit that we are in
need of healing. We remember at the
beginning of every Mass the illnesses that afflict us. We remember our physical illnesses, our
spiritual illnesses, and the illnesses of our families. And we ask the Lord for healing. We ask the Lord to have mercy on us. That is one of the reasons for the
penitential rite at the beginning of the Mass.
We call to mind our sins and our failings and our weaknesses, and all
that needs healing in our lives, and we place them before the Almighty and
Merciful Father.
And having acknowledged
our need for healing and revealed to the Lord, in the silence of our hearts,
the illnesses that we bear, the Word of the Lord is presented to us. Every Sunday the Lord gives us his Word to
assist us in our healing. The Word of
the Lord, living and true, provides us with healing and caution, advice and
encouragement, every week. The Lord
Jesus invites us to follow his life and teachings so that we can be
healed. Every week, in the celebration
of the Holy Mass, the command of the Lord is given to us, just as it was given
to Naaman and the ten lepers.
And yet, dear brothers
and sisters, our readings today did not conclude with the cure. They are about healing, but they are not only
about healing. Naaman, in response to
having been healed, professed that he would abandon the false idols and would
worship the one true God. He had been
healed to draw him to the worship of the true God. This is another reason for the penitential
rite at the beginning of Mass. We ask
for healing and forgiveness so that we might more worthily enter into the
sacred mysteries and offer our lives as a pure sacrifice with the Lord Jesus.
Only one of the ten lepers,
recognizing that he had been healed, returned to the Lord Jesus to give him
thanks. His healing was more than just
physical healing. Healing drew him into
an act of thanksgiving.
The healing of Naaman
and the healing of the leper changed their lives. As we admit our need for healing, and hear
the word of healing, may our lives too be changed, and may we turn to the Lord
with hearts lifted up in thanksgiving.
Amen.
Preached
at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, Monroe, NC
