October 09, 2022
28th Sunday Ordinary C
On the way to Jerusalem, as Jesus enters a village, standing off are 10 lepers who cry out: "Jesus, master, have pity on us." Lepers, with their visible skin afflictions, are forced to live apart and thus isolated socially and spiritually. Jews and Samaritans do not associate except when they find themselves shunned. The lepers go, as Jesus directs them, to the priests who can give an official OK that they are clean and able to return to their families. Of the 10 lepers, we know, one is a Samaritan.
For the Jewish lepers, once the priest at the Temple certifies that they are clean, they are free to return to be reunited with their families after exile and isolation. In the case of the Samaritan is he willing to risk going into Judaea and to the priests at the Temple where he is likely to face hostility and scorn? We know in the Gospel according to St. Luke that he, the Samaritan, returns, glorifying God, prostrates himself and thanks Jesus.
By returning to Jesus, the foreigner receives more than a physical cure of his leprosy. Jesus says to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you.†He experiences the deeper healing of God’s mercy and salvation.
Before we say anything about the ungrateful nine, we should examine our own lives. Have we expressed gratitude to a parent, friend, teacher, coach, doctor, nurse, or dentist who has done things for us that we cannot possibly repay? To the UPS driver, to emergency responder or check out at TOPS or garbage collector? We live in a consumer society with a sense of entitlement. We know what we don't have and fail to appreciate what we do have. Rather than coming up with an endless shopping list of what we don’t have, we can come up with a "list of blessings†of all that we have and can be grateful for.
"Gratitude is the memory of the heart." An attitude of appreciation opens our eyes to the abundance of gifts in our lives. Mass is the perfect place to give thanks. "Eucharist," means "Thanksgiving.â€
As we enter into the process of aligning our five parishes into a Family, I want to keep parishioners informed and, as best I can, to allay fear of the unknown. On Sunday, after 8 AM Mass, I am meeting with our Trustees (Dottie Austin and Mike Skrip) and our Renewal Reps (Tom and Kris DiScipio). They will be our guides and play a key role in our conversations with the other four parishes. We have been informed by Fr. Bryan Zielenieski, Diocesan Director of Renewal, that the Priests’ Personnel Board will announce the name of the new Pastor of our Family on October 15th. After this announcement is made, the priests in our Family will meet with the Bishop to learn and to clarify how we will work closely with the new Pastor during this transitional phase as our five parishes become a Family. I will speak on this matter at Masses next weekend.
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27th Sunday Ordinary C
