As Jesus continued his journey to
Jerusalem, he traveled through Samaria and Galilee. As he was entering a village, ten lepers met
him. They stood at a distance from him and
raised their voice, saying, “Jesus, Master!
Have pity on us!”
Why were these ten lepers healed?
What can we learn from them?
Ten lepers met him. Have
you met with the Lord today? Have you
greeted him with a morning hymn of praise and gratitude? Simply put, have you prayed today? Have you taken a few moments out of your busy
schedule to worship our Lord and God? If
not, then do it now. What’s stopping
you? Who is stopping you?
The Lord is my shepherd; there is
nothing I shall want.
Prayer helps us to find God. His Word is The Way, so reflect on it. His Will is The Way, so follow it. His Love is The Way, so imitate it. As
hard as it may seem to make any spiritual progress, it all begins with baby
steps.
I’m still crawling.
Ten lepers met the Lord because they went searching for Him. But
before they found him, they believed in Him.
Yes, they placed their trust in Him before they actually saw Him! With every step they took, along the longest
journey of their lives, they left behind more doubts, more fears and more
excuses, until all that was left of them was their shame and faith, hope and
love in Him.
The road to Christ is never an easy one. In fact, it is dangerous, for the road is
filled with squatters: that is, doubters,
distracters, critics and counterfeits.
They stood at a distance and raised their voice. Because they prayed, they were able
to differentiate His Way from all the other ways. Because they prayed, they were already
calling out to Him from a distance. Prayer
not only allows us to raise our voices and be heard, even from a distance, but to
stand before him, even at a distance. God may be distant, but He is not far from our
reach. He may be out of our sight, but
we are not out of His mind.
Jesus, Master! Have pity on us! We will never find the Lord if we are
continually doubting Him. But if we
place our trust in Him, in His Word, and place our lives in Him, in His Hands,
then He will bless all that we do, all that we have, and all that we are. The ten lepers, with all their suffering,
still, by the power of prayer, were able to say: JESUS, MASTER, HAVE PITY ON US!
Notice, how there is not a single strand of anger, resentment,
bitterness, hate, etc… Why? Maybe, they understood: Every time
I try to hurt the Lord, I end up hurting myself, for I was made in His image
and likeness. Likewise, every time I am hurt
because of the Lord, I may be imitating Him – His image and His likeness - upon
the Cross.
Things change; everything changes.
But the Lord never changes. This
is the secret to success; to my holiness.
Believe it or not, I think I know the Lord better than I know myself. I know Him better than I know anyone
else. Why? Because He never changes. I know that if I believe in Him, He will save
me; if I ask for forgiveness, He will forgive me; if I receive Him in the
Eucharist, He will dwell in me. I know
this because He never changes this.
But when it comes to me, I know not who I am or what I am capable of doing. How
many promises have I broken? How many
friends have I turned to enemies? How
many people have I forgotten?
Are you just like me: unpredictable?
“Stand up and go; your faith has saved you.” Only
one leper returned; only one turned
around to give thanks to God. All of lepers showed great faith, hope and love to be healed, but only one finished it off by giving thanks.
So, did all
ten lepers deserve what they got? Yes…and
no. Yes, because God says that faith works and saves. No, because salvation comes from “the
kindness and generous love of God our savior” (Ti 3:1-7).
God's love is predictable. Our gratitude is unpredictable. So where does gratitude fit into our salvation? By being the one out of ten that show it.
Let's show
it. Let’s be predictable.
I do not believe that God is ever really "distant" from us, but rather through our rebellion and lack of love for Him, we become "distant" from Him. Even when we can't hear HIs voice at times, or when prayer feels stale and dry. He is closer to us in those times, more then when experiencing consolation. Sometimes I feel like one of those lepers. I too am crawling. NO not crawling...more like schoot on my behind! I know that sometimes,all I can do is to ask Jesus to pick me up. Because, I am too tired to even move.
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