Thanksgiving Day - Luke 17:11-19
The Gospel for today is the story
of Jesus healing the ten lepers. Stop for a moment and put yourself in the
shoes of those lepers. They must have heard stories about Jesus and his power
to heal. They stood at a distance and cried out to him. They begged him to take
pity on them and to heal them. Their disease made them outcasts in the society
of that time. They must have longed to be healed and to be able to return to
their families, their homes, and their lives.
Jesus took the lepers’ cry to heart
and He healed all ten of them. However, only one of the lepers took the time to
express his deep gratitude and awe to Jesus. The other nine lepers hurriedly
went on their way to find the priests so they could be declared clean. Jesus
gave all ten lepers a great gift. He not only made them whole again but by
healing them Jesus restored their lives to them. Now they could return to their
families and their lives. They were no longer outcasts!
Ask yourself: What is the
“infirmity” in your life? How do you deal with this infirmity? Are you angry,
afraid, sad, or withdrawn? Or do you gather your courage and approach Jesus and
ask him to heal you?
If we do ask to be healed, most
likely we hope we will not be healed instantly. Typically nature’s way of
healing is gradual and subtle. And healing may come in a variety of ways:
healing the infirmity itself; giving us the grace to accept our situation or
perhaps finding ways to make our lives meaningful despite our infirmity.
Today will we approach Jesus and
ask him to heal us? Do we trust that Jesus will heal us in some
way? Do we truly believe that Jesus is walking this road with us?
Today and every day may we pray for the grace to trust Jesus and his promises!
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