28th Sunday in Ordinary
Time
October 13, 2013
Luke 17:11-19
“And one of them, realizing he
had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the
feet of Jesus and thanked him. He was a Samaritan (Luk 17:15-16).”
Ingratitude! These
nine Jews had no sense of gratitude. They were healed, yet they did not bother
to go back and say a little thanks to Jesus. Considering that leprosy was
parallel to a gradual death penalty in Jesus’ time, the nine Jews seemed to
possess a swelling pride that closed their eyes to the thanksgiving
possibility. Yet, wait! Is this a sheer thanklessness, or is there any deeper
reason behind their action? The fact that only the Samaritan went back gives us
a startling and complex phenomena here.
Why did the
Samaritan run back to Jesus? Looking into the intricate cultural fabric of
Jewish society, one of the most probably reasons is that precisely he is a
Samaritan and not a Jew. Unlike his Jewish co-lepers, he had no legal obligation
to present himself to the Jewish priests and perform a ritual of purification before
he could be re-incorporated into the society (Lev 14). To accuse the nine
healed Jews of pure ingratitude is just too simplistic now. They were actually
faithful to the Law and indeed doing what Jesus told them to accomplish.
Did these Jews come
back to Jesus after completing the prescribed rules? Well, the Gospel is silent
about this, though the possibility is wide open. Now, we have a better
understanding why the nine Jews failed short to give thanks right away. There
is a built-in mentality that erases from their mind the option of speedy return
to Jesus. This is the perennial mechanism that places human and all their
ingenuity first before God and His grace. Often, without realizing it, this
very same structure that the Jews had almost two thousand years ago is also
planted in our consciousness.
In our time, we
breathe in the atmosphere of competitions and breathe out personal
achievements. We are trained to trust in ourselves more than anything else and
make things happen by our power and confidence. Books and seminars on successful
personalities, winning attitudes and self-victory are practically flooding our
society. Thus, we are preoccupied with earning a living and attaining success
in life, yet skipping the essential part of life. We forget that everything is
the grace of God. To quote Thomas Merton, “To
be grateful is to recognize the Love of God in everything He has given us - and
He has given us everything. Every breath we draw is a gift of His love, every
moment of existence is a grace, for it brings with it immense graces from Him.”
I would like to
share you my experience when I visited a group of juvenile inmates at the New
Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa, Philippines. I came close to them and started a
light chat. Yet, upon listening to their stories intently, my heart was tearing
into pieces. In the very young age, some were involved in very serious crimes. Robbery,
violent behaviors and murder, just to mention some. Some practically faced life
imprisonment. How could these horrible things inflict their youthful lives? Complains,
regrets, and cursing were stuffs that I expected would proceed from their
mouths. Yet, I was totally mistaken. Despite the darkest parts of lives they
had to endure, thanksgiving still flew out from their hearts, as they would
welcome us warmly and even entertained us with a musical play that speaks of
the profound meaning of freedom: the worst prison cell that man could get into
is actually the one inside his heart. Our hearts often are imprisoned in this
cell of pride, self-sufficiency and delusional independence that we are not
able to see God’s grace in and among us.
To continue the
words of Merton, “Gratitude therefore
takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, is constantly awakening to
new wonder and to praise of the goodness of God. For the grateful person knows
that God is good, not by hearsay but by experience. And that is what makes all
the difference."
Br. Valentinus Bayuhadi
Ruseno, OP
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