ALL SOULS DAY (02.11.2025)

 

Thirty First Sunday of Ordinary Time (C)

All Souls Day [Jn 11:17-27]

(Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed)

02.11.2025

Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life

Readings: (1) Wis 4:7-15 (2) 1 Thess 4:13-18

N.B.: These reflections can be adapted to any of the optional readings given for this day in the Lectionary or Liturgical Calendar [‘Ordo’].

1.    Theme in brief

Living in spite of death

2.    Focus Statement  

Jesus gives the gift of divine (or eternal) life to those who believe in him and those who receive this gift shall never die spiritually, even if they die physically.

3.    Explanation of the text

Raising Lazarus from death by Jesus in today’s gospel text gives the message that he has the power to free those who believe in him from the bonds of spiritual or eternal death. This freedom is the gateway to the full blossoming of eternal life (since for John it already begins at baptism) and the hope of the final resurrection.

Jesus’ dialogue with Lazarus’ sister, Martha, is meant to reveal his identity as “I am the resurrection and the life” (11:25). Already in the beginning of his gospel John has stated that Jesus has the life of God in its fullness, because of his oneness or unity with the Father (1:4). That is why he is the Life itself (14:6). And that life of God (called eternal life since God himself is eternal), he shares with those who “believe” in him already in their present life. But the complete blossoming of that life will take place when Jesus will raise those who believe in him on the last day, that is, will give them a share in his own resurrection after death (6:44,54).

The self-revelation of Jesus as the resurrection and the life in this text implies that he fully shares the power of God over life and death. The power which death holds over people to separate them from God and his divine or eternal life is defeated by Jesus’ resurrection. He claims that he is able to raise people from death to life on his own, now itself, as well as at the final resurrection of all the dead. But there is a condition – put by Jesus to Martha – to apply this experience to individuals: "Do you believe this (11:26)?" In John’s gospel “to believe” means to be personally attached or committed to Jesus and put one’s trust in him. Faith in Jesus creates such a close communion with him that divine life which is in him flows into believers. And physical death cannot cut off that life. Since the believer is in close union with Jesus who is the Life, how can this spark of divine life be extinguished with death? One who has faith lives even after death, in fact never dies in spirit (11:25-26).

Jesus brings the gift of divine life to those who believe in him so that those who receive it shall never die spiritually, even if they die physically (11:26). Physical death is not the end of their life, but a gateway to another life (spiritual and eternal). The believers share not only in divine life here on earth but also, because of his triumph over death, in his resurrection hereafter also. In other words, believers in Jesus will experience resurrection because, death cannot defeat the life of God (1 Cor 15:53-57). Hence, death’s curse and sting is removed by him.

4.  Application to life                     

For many Catholics, All Souls Day is a day of prayer for the ‘eternal rest’ of the dead in their families. If we ask any of them, the reason for such prayer, naturally many of them would say that their prayer helps the dead to go to heaven from a state of purification called purgatory. Of course, this is true according to the teachings of the Catholic Church. But besides this, there are other reasons – not sufficiently emphasized or known to many – why we should pray for the faithful departed:

(1) Our prayers for those who have died marked with the sign of faith are an expression or sign of our close relationship or bond that connects us with them even after death. They are an expression of our faith that death cannot break the spiritual relationship we establish with our Christian brothers and sisters at the time of baptism. All the faithful departed, though dead are still spiritually living with us. In the tribal society of my region, this communion with the dead is expressed in symbolic and anthropomorphic ways, such as offering of food and drink to the dead, calling back the spirit (or shadow) of the dead and enthroning it at the fireplace and (if they are not Christians) offering of animal sacrifices in honour of the dead on important occasions. Jesus has only purified the traces of immortality already present in many cultures. He has explained that the departed ones do not possess a physical body like us but spiritual bodies like angels that require neither food and drink nor need to get married (cf. Mt 22:28-30). Since our communion with them is essentially spiritual, we express it by praying for them and offering the Eucharistic Sacrifice for their repose and purification. The saints in heaven also keep up this spiritual relationship with us by continually interceding with God on our behalf. Thus, whether we live or die, we are one in the Lord.

 (2) Secondly, All Souls Day is a great day of remembrance and loving gratitude. Our prayers and Eucharistic Sacrifice are signs that we have not forgotten the love and service of our departed brothers and sisters when they were with us, and are united with them with an unbroken bond. Especially today we recall to mind all that they did for us, for our families/ the Church / Religious Congregations/ human society and praise God for it. At the same time our prayer and Eucharistic Sacrifice are the best ways of showing our love and gratitude towards them. They are no more with us physically, but the love and service we received from them lives forever in our hearts. As Jesus has said in his dialogue with Martha, even though they have died, they never die in spirit; they live forever in our memory (11:25). The values they lived and proclaimed (both in words and deeds), the sacrifices they made, the positive influence they exerted on us continue to live far beyond their death. Hence, All Souls Day opens for us a floodgate of memories. We can only exclaim: “How great is our God who has done wonderful deeds for us through so many loved ones from generation to generation!”

Today’s solemn commemoration of the faithful departed, besides praying for their eternal repose, should generate in us thoughts about our own death. The Church reminds us that when we die, we too, like the faithful departed, shall complete the process of dying with Christ and rising to new life begun at baptism. She invites us to reflect on this paschal character of our death and gives us the hope that we shall be with Christ and share in the glory of his resurrection forever. This hope helps us cope with life, since it can sustain and support us in times of suffering and crisis. It gives a meaning to all the suffering, sorrow, pain and struggles of life. We firmly believe that our sufferings will not be in vain and an unimaginable reward is awaiting us. As St. Paul says, they are not worth comparing with the glory to come (Rom 8:18). If we hope for the ‘Gold Medal’ (heavenly reward) in life’s race, we have to go through a rigorous exercise of trials, suffering, struggles and hardships. Suppose we have no hope of getting any reward, why should and how can we suffer with serenity at all? It will be a harsh and horrible suffering with nothing to hold on.

This reflection makes us realize that this world is not our permanent home, and our earthly life is a pilgrimage to God. The impermanence of earthly life makes us ponder about the meanness or foolishness of getting excessively attached to worldly possessions, and putting our full trust in them, instead of God who alone is our security. Considering the shortness of our earthly life, we have to wage a continuous war against evil and ungodly ways, and always be prepared to meet the Lord whenever he calls us. As we live, so we die! Our participation in the death and resurrection of Christ begun at baptism spurs us to go on dying constantly to our sinfulness and selfishness, so that we can fully participate in his resurrection at our death. When we profess our faith in the resurrection of the body we proclaim that both our body and soul are destined to find fulfilment in God. Our faith in the power of Christ’s resurrection enables us to invoke its power when forces of death (such as calamities, trials, temptations, loss of job or loved ones) close in on us.

Our profession of faith and hope in eternal life, especially on this day, should motivate us to live our earthly life as best as possible, because it is a preparation for eternal life with God. If so, we should always aim at qualitatively different type of life, different from merely working, earning, eating, drinking and making merry. Quality of life is not measured by the quality of our goods, furnishing, machinery and latest electronic gadgets, but by the quality of our love, service, dedication, relationships and contributions to human life or society. What is the use if the quality of our material goods goes higher and higher every year and the quality of our relationships and commitment goes lower and lower? We should not be satisfied with mere physical existence, but have a passion (a strong feeling or commitment) for life, peace, truth, etc. We are here to find fulfilment, to be happy (joyful), to radiate love, to love with a passion, and to share that love. If we do not live a life of purpose, and do not live it enthusiastically, we should be guilty of living a wasted life.

Jesus himself becomes our resurrection by his promise to liberate us from spiritual or eternal death and raise us up to everlasting life. St. Paul describes spiritual death as “being alienated from the life of God” (Eph 4:18) or lacking God’s life. Serious sins cause spiritual death – separation or alienation from God’s love or death of divine life in us. Jesus is the Resurrection since he has the power to give spiritual life to the physically dead. He is also the Life since he prevents spiritual death of those who put their faith in him. Our faith in the power of Christ’s resurrection gives us strength to win a victory over eternal death, just as Christ has won at his resurrection. A person who accepts Christ as the resurrection and the life cannot live a meaningless, loveless and hopeless life. Just as Jesus asked Martha, he asks us today: “Do you believe this” (Jn 11:26)? In other words, he asks us whether we put our trust in him and his promises. Echoing Martha’s reply, we say: “Yes, Lord, I accept in total trust that you are the revelation of God’s boundless love for me and commit myself wholeheartedly to you as the one coming into the world” (cf. 11:27).

5.  Response to God's Word

How strong is our communion with the faithful departed? Does our faith in eternal life and resurrection of the body motivate us to run the race of life with full vigour or to fight a good fight of the faith (1 Tim 6:12) in order to win the prize or crown of heavenly reward (2 Tim 4:7-8)? To gain this heavenly ‘gold medal’, do we take the trouble of daily ‘exercise’ by giving up selfishness and striving for holiness? Is this the aim of our Christian life? Does our hope in this reward help us to live a better and holier life in spite of going through this valley of darkness? Do we believe in the power of Christ’s resurrection and invoke it when forces of death close in on us like suffering and calamities? Does our faith in eternal life with God motivate us to improve the quality of our life and our personal contributions to human society? Are we guilty of living a wasted life by our failure to live a life of purpose with a personal mission on earth?

6.  A prayer

Remember our brothers and sisters, O merciful God, who have fallen asleep in the peace of Christ. You alone have known their faith. Admit them to rejoice in the light of your face and in the resurrection give them fullness of life. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. When our earthly pilgrimage is done, grant that we too may live with you for ever in communion with all the saints. Amen.

 

30th Sunday of Ordinary Time (C)

 

Thirtieth Sunday of Ordinary Time (C) [Lk 18:9-14]

26.10.2025

The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax-collector

Readings: (1) Sir 35:12-14.16-18 (2) 2 Tim 4:6-8.16-18

1.    Theme in brief

Dangers of self-righteousness

2.    Focus Statement

Self-righteousness, trust in oneself and regarding others with contempt makes one unacceptable before God, and acknowledgement of oneself as a sinner makes one acceptable.

3.    Explanation of the text

The main theme of today’s parable of the Pharisee and the Tax-collector is given in the beginning itself: Some people trust in themselves that they are more righteous than others and regard others with contempt (18:9). This parable poses the question: Actually who is righteous (or virtuous), who is unrighteous, and who is self-righteous. In this parable, the Pharisee is projected as highly self-righteous. At the end he turns out to be unrighteous in God’s sight, and the tax-collector whom the Pharisee considers unrighteous, goes home justified (or made righteous, 18:14). Quite a topsy-turvy depiction indeed!

The Pharisee prays not to God but to himself. He boasts of his good deeds and achievements, and places his merits before God. Actually, the he does not bluff in his prayer: As he claims, he really fasts twice a week (18:12). (Biblical commentators tell us that Pharisees used to fast on all Mondays and Thursdays). Though the law requires that Israelites should offer a tenth of their income to the Temple only from the produce of their fields, this Pharisee claims that he gives a tenth of not only his farm produce, but also his total income (18:12). Since he is really practising all the virtues narrated by him (18:11-12), he thinks God is bound to listen to his prayers and grant all the favours he asks as a reward for his good deeds. Not only that, he uses his virtues and merits as a justification to look down or despise sinners like the tax-collector. Look at the contemptuous way he refers to others: they are all thieves, rogues and adulterers (18:11). In his way of praying, he commits two blunders: (1) he wants God to reward him by all means for a job well done; (2) he has contempt for that tax-collector who is a swindler and a traitor in his opinion.

On the other hand, the tax-collector has no achievements or merits to place before God. He is aware that his job of collecting taxes from the public puts him in a constant temptation of committing fraud. He realizes that he has succumbed to this temptation. He has nothing to repay. All he can do is to rely on God’s mercy and ask his pardon. Unlike the self-righteous Pharisee, he trusts not in his merits but solely on God’s mercy and considers himself a sinner toward God and people. His posture of gazing to the ground instead of heavenwards is a sign of humility or nothingness, and beating his breast a sign of repentance (18:13). He judges no one except himself as a sinner, and recognizes his need of God’s mercy. Whereas the Pharisee thinks God needs him to keep his laws and teach them to others, the tax-collector knows how much he needs God and his mercy to live a virtuous life. It is shocking to observe Jesus pronouncing the ‘bad guy’ a ‘good guy’ and vice versa (18:14).

4.    Application to life 

There are two main characters in today’s parable of the Pharisee and the Tax-collector; the former represents the story of self-righteousness and the latter sinfulness. In fact, it is very humiliating to admit that we have lived this story of the Pharisee not only as individuals but also as a Church, community or nation.

Individually, there is a Pharisee lurking in each of us. The first main point of this Pharisee is: “I am not like other people”. His second point is: “I am not like this tax-collector’’ (18:11). The Pharisee in a parish priest thinks: “I’m not like other priests who create scandals and ruin the parish, especially like that particular priest”; in a religious Sister who thinks, “I’m not like other Sisters who disobey their superiors and are regularly absent for community prayers, especially like that so and so Sister”; in married couples who think, “We are not like those whose marriages are breaking up within a year, especially like that so and so who divorced his wife”; in parents who think, “Our children are never caught for any mischief like others’ children, especially the children of so and so; in Catholics who think, “I’m not like other Catholics, especially like so and so who attends church only on feast days and goes for Communion shamelessly in the front line”; etc. Collectively, this Pharisee lurking in our Church is that Church which considers she alone is holding the keys of the Kingdom of God; that community or group which thinks its moral standards are much better than others and it is holier than others because of its regular attendance in prayers, worship, devotions and piety. On the contrary, today’s gospel invites us to pray like the tax-collector as often as possible: “God, be merciful to me, an imperfect person!”

The Pharisee and the tax-collector are stereotypes of those whom we consider as ‘good guys’ and ‘bad guys’ or good people and bad people. The Lord asks those of us who are good Christians whether we succumb to the common temptation to compare ourselves with others or present ourselves as better, and judge or condemn others (as ‘bad’ people). He cautions us against falling into the temptation of perfectionism – faithfully holding on to the dictum, “I’m ok, you are not ok.” There is a tendency among some of us who have gone through the rigours of higher education, training, long years of religious formation and strict discipline to think we are already perfect. Now our job is to correct everybody else except ourselves. Sometimes in our preaching, teaching and prayer we tend to draw the attention of people to ourselves, instead of the Lord. If so, again we cannot but pray as often as possible: “God, be merciful to me, an imperfect person!”

There is another tendency in many good Christians – to fill their subconscious mind with all sorts of negative thoughts, bitterness and complaints about others whom they consider as “tax-collectors” (that is, ‘bad’ people). Today we should ask ourselves whether we are throwing a lot of emotional garbage and negativity such as hatred, revenge, anger and jealousy into our subconscious mind even without being aware of it. This sort of negativism stored up in subconscious mind jumps back into conscious mind and creates impulses, urges and inordinate passions. Therefore, we need to consciously cultivate the habit of becoming positive thinkers by substituting each negative thought with a positive one whenever it crops up in the mind. We need to pray: “God, be merciful to me, a negative thinker!” Today, the Lord invites us to respect others and accept them with their differences and opinions. Another remedy to negativity is self-criticism. Have you criticized yourself any time? Learn to say: “Never to find fault in myself is my greatest fault”. We need to see ourselves as God sees us, not as we would like to see ourselves.

Another strong enemy of our spiritual growth is self-righteousness and self-trust. First of all, we have to ask ourselves if we are living a holy, righteous and virtuous life, is it because of our achievement or merits? If not for God’s grace, we all would have been like the persons whom we are despising and condemning, or worse than them. Those who think they are virtuous and righteous because of their own merits and resources, are like the Pharisee. If we (and our prayer) have to be acceptable to God we have to be convinced of God’s mercy, acknowledge our sinfulness and should not despise our neighbour.

Unless we acknowledge ourselves as sinners, weak and powerless to avoid sins, we cannot experience God’s mercy. God despises no one. If He loves all the sinners, outcasts and the scum of the earth, how can we despise or label them? All of us (priests, religious, married couples, parents, jobholders, the youth, etc.) often fail to live up to our ideals, deviate from our life’s real purpose, and live a life unbecoming of our vocation and mission like the tax-collector. We have to struggle constantly to become better persons. Is it not a sign of our pride to label others as sinners and bad people and judge them severely? God accepts (justifies) those who acknowledge their sinfulness and powerlessness to avoid sins and rely solely on his mercy. Our helplessness, insufficiency and dependence on God open us to God’s grace.

No person who trusts in himself/herself and despises others can pray in the proper sense. Self-righteous people ultimately no longer need God, since they think they can manage their lives by themselves, and God will have no other choice than grant them salvation based on their ‘merit certificate’.

5.    Response to God's Word

Do we realize that excessive trust in self leads us not to trust in God and to the contempt of others? What are the symptoms of pride and self-trust in us? Do we trust in ourselves and our own achievements more than trusting in God? What are the ways in which we despise others and judge the weak people severely? As the Pharisee thought, do we think, except “us” (a limited circle of people), all others are good for nothing? What are the pharisaic traits in us for which we need to repent – pride…..self-trust….self-righteousness….perfectionism….negativism….?

6.    A Prayer

God, be merciful to us, sinners. We repent for the pharisaic traits in us such as self-trust, self-righteousness, perfectionism and negativism. Due to our pride, we quite often label others as sinners and bad people, and judge them severely. Grant that we may consciously cultivate the habit of becoming positive thinkers and self-critics. We acknowledge our powerlessness to avoid sins and rely solely on your mercy and grace. Have mercy on us and deliver us from our negative mind-set that regards others with contempt. Amen.

29th Sunday of Ordinary Time (C)

 

Twenty-ninth Ordinary Sunday (C) [Lk 18:1-8]

19.10.2025

The Parable of the Widow and the Unjust Judge

Readings: (1) Ex 17:8-13 (2) 2 Tim 3:14 - 4:2

1. Theme in brief

Persistently praying without losing heart

2. Focus Statement

If we pray persistently without losing heart, our God who cares for us and is so sensitive to our needs is sure to answer in the way he wants.

3.    Explanation of the text

The main message of today’s parable of the Widow and the Judge is clearly stated in the text itself in two precise statements: (1) the disciples of Jesus ought to pray always without losing heart (18:1); (2) if an unjust judge who cares for nobody, finally listens to a poor widow, how much more will God do the same to those who cry to him day and night (18:7). In other words, as God is genuinely interested in our welfare (unlike that unjust judge), will he not care to help us in our needs when we plead with him?

This parable is given in the context of a delayed ‘Parousia’ (Second Coming of Christ) and the doubt existing in the minds of disciples whether God’s Kingdom will come at all in its fullness in spite of their ardent prayer. Due to this delay there is a tendency among the disciples to give up prayer altogether and lose faith. Jesus wants to give comfort and encouragement to his disciples so that they persist in their hopeful prayer till his Second Coming.

The main character of this parable is not the unjust judge but the widow who was seeking justice against her opponent (18:3). Actually, in this parable, God is not compared to or identified with that unscrupulous and unjust judge who neither fears God nor respects people (18:2). If it were so we will get the idea that we must argue our case with God and pressurize him or “wear him out” (18:5) to get what we want. Far from this idea, in this parable Jesus contrasts God’s nature with this judge. God is so gracious, caring and sensitive to our needs and pleading.

The real point is : If the hard heart of an unjust and arrogant judge can get melted by the persistent pleading of a poor and helpless widow, how much more a gracious God will respond to the pleading of those who cry to him day and night (18:7). We must remember that in the OT widows are symbols of powerlessness and helplessness. Here, the judge’s insensitivity to a helpless widow’s persistent pleading is contrasted with God’s sensitivity and care to quickly grant justice to his chosen ones (18:7). Therefore they should remain faithful and steadfast in prayer till he comes, and never give up hope and trust in God.

A question came to disciples’ mind in Jesus’ days and continues to come to us even today, “If there is a just God, why he doesn’t see to it that justice is done everywhere.” Jesus’ explanation implies that God will not intervene immediately but at his appointed time will definitely act. Therefore, the question is not whether God will do justice to his chosen ones because it is his work and they are to trust him.  But the real question is whether his chosen ones will remain faithful to him till the end, or better still whether he will find faith kept burning at his coming (18:8).   

4.    Application to life 

According to this parable the main question is not whether God answers all our prayers. The decisive question is whether we remain faithful to God and show our unshakable trust in him by persistently praying, especially when God’s Kingdom does not seem to come soon. He makes a delay in granting us what we ask for in prayer for reasons known to him alone.  Even after praying ceaselessly, “Thy Kingdom come,” if his Kingdom remains far away from us, there is a great temptation in all of us to give up prayer altogether. Or when we do not get what we ask for in prayer or when there is a delay in answering from God’s side, the same thing happens. Through this parable Jesus teaches us that we must persevere in prayer even though God may delay answering us, or may not give us exactly what we ask for.

In prayer, do we become achievement oriented, as in worldly business? When we do not ‘achieve’ anything by praying, it is our faith, which is under trial. The question is whether we shall give up our faith or increase it by praying persistently. Even our prayer of petitions and intercessions is not meant only to get personal favours or favours for our dear ones from God, but also to increase our dependence and trust in him. Repeated petitions like the widow’s persistent pleading with the judge, make us humble beggars of God’s mercy and increase our intimacy with him. By repeatedly approaching God for our needs, we increase our contact or relationship with him. Intimacy or communion with God is what prayer is all about.

For those who doubt whether God will come to the aid of those who cry to him day and night, this parable has a clear answer. If an unjust judge, who cares for nobody or nothing, finally relents and listens to a poor widow (who is a nobody) and does justice to her, how much more will God do the same to those who approach him with trust and confidence? If a judge who is unscrupulous and disinterested in the widow’s well-being can finally listen to her pleading, how much more will God who is genuinely interested in our welfare give his children what they need! This parable clearly brings out the contrast between the insensitivity of the judge and the sensitivity and care of God to answer our prayers. The true reason for our disappointment is our lack of faith.

It is true that we always do not get exactly what we ask for in prayer immediately at the press of a button. Apart from a lack of deeper faith, there may be other reasons why we do not get what we ask, and due to which we eventually lose heart:

(1)   We ask what we want from God but he may give us actually what we need, since he alone knows what we need and what is best for us in the long run. Just as parents sometimes refuse what the child asks when they know it is ultimately going to hurt the child or spoil it, God also sometimes refuses our petitions.

(2) He wants to purify our motives and intensify our desires for his gifts.Sometimes our petitions are purely selfish and narrow-minded. During novenas many of us ask only personal favours and do not bother about the needs of the world around us.

(3)   He wants that we learn the real value of the thing we are asking for, so that we can appreciate its real worth and become better disposed to receive it. Though God is always ready to help us, our insistent petitions make us well disposed to receive his gifts and favours. When we look at prayer from God’s side, he does not need our prayer since he already knows our needs; but when we look at it from our side we need prayer to make us well disposed to his gifts and show gratitude when we get them.

(4)    Sometimes God wants to give us something else, which we have not thought of asking. For instance, when we pray for healing, if it is not his holy will, instead of healing our illness he may give us the grace and strength to bear and accept it so that we become less irritated and complaining or rebellious.

Thus, persistence in prayer, helps us to realise the value of what we are asking, nourishes and deepens our faith, and expresses our dependence on God. Our insistent prayer is a clear indication of how powerless, helpless and defenceless we are before God like the widow in this parable. This idea goes against those teachers and preachers of religion who present prayer as the easiest way to get anything; the only thing is that we ask God again and again. They forget to mention that prayer of petitions is meant not only to get what we want but also to ensure that there will be “faith on earth” till the end of time (18:8). They fail to emphasise what Jesus says at the end of today’s parable – besides getting exactly the thing we want, prayer nourishes our faith and puts us into regular contact with God.

This parable has a good message for life-promotion issues also: Since our God is a God of justice, our faith commits us to stand and work for justice especially for whom it is denied. Like the widow who insisted on getting justice for her, we too may have to face unjust judges of this world to get justice done to the powerless and the defenceless. When God is not indifferent to our cries in prayer and does justice to us, should we be indifferent to the cries of the powerless and the marginalized?

We can apply this parable in another sense. We can identify the poor widow of this parable with so many powerless people in the world who go on knocking at the doors of justice for themselves and those whom they love. They knock at the gates of courts to settle a case, at employment offices to get jobs, at educational institutes to get admission to their children, at hospitals to get better treatment, etc. Quite often they do not get justice done to them in spite of their persistent efforts due to their inability to meet the expenses involved. Their only power is their persistence and perseverance in knocking at these gates again and again. Those who are involved in running these institutes or justice system represent God for them, if ever they hear their cry for justice. When we are in such a position, do we hear the cry of such people? Are we sensitive to it, or just indifferent?

Those who work for peace in our present turbulent and violent world need to look at this poor widow as a model. Due to the growth of terrorism, religious fundamentalism and unjust social structures, many people advocate vengeance or tit-for-tat against terrorist attacks and unjust social systems. The process of peace is slow and sometimes seems to be reaching nowhere. The persistence and perseverance of this poor widow is a model to pursue our peace efforts in any conflict situation starting from family and neighbourhood or village to the highest level of political systems – even when the result is not instant.  

5. Response to God's Word

Do we take time and make efforts to nourish our faith through constant prayer? How do we respond when we do not get what we ask for in prayer? Do we lose heart in prayer; do we lose faith and trust in God? Are we selfish in our prayer, asking only personal favours from God especially during novenas and pilgrimages? Do we pray for the realization of God’s cause (that is for His Kingdom) – that there may be peace in the world; that we may live in unity; that truth and justice may prevail…..? Do our petitions make us well disposed to receive God’s gifts and blessings? Are we indifferent to the cries of the powerless and the voiceless like that unjust judge?

6. A Prayer

Lord, you are the refuge of the helpless and hopeless. We realize how powerless and defenceless we are before you like the widow in today’s gospel. Like her we cry to you day and night for justice and mercy for us and for the world. Grant that we may never lose heart in prayer and remain ever faithful to you with unshakable trust by persistently praying, even when you do not grant or delay in granting what we ask for. Please nourish and deepen our faith. Grant that we may not remain indifferent to the cries of the powerless and the helpless, but be sensitive to their needs. Amen.

28th Sunday of Ordinary Time (C)

 

   Twenty-eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time (C) [Lk 17:11-19]

13.10.2025

Jesus Cleanses Ten Lepers

Readings: (1) 2 King 5:14-17 (2) 2 Tim 2:8-13

1.    Theme in brief

A sense of gratitude          

2.    Focus Statement

We need to cultivate a deep sense of gratitude to God for his goodness towards us in cleansing us from sins and bestowing on us salvation and wholeness.

3.    Explanation of the text

In today’s gospel text, Jesus contrasts the gratitude expressed by a Samaritan leper over his experience of getting healed from leprosy with the ingratitude of the nine Jewish lepers who failed to give thanks to him for the same. Though all the ten lepers received the gift of healing, only the Samaritan, much hated by the Jews as an outcast, returned to give thanks. This Samaritan leper was doubly an outcast, both as a leper and as a Samaritan.

First of all, in Jesus’ time the Jews believed that leprosy was such a repelling, dreadful and contagious disease that anybody could contract it even by going close to lepers. That is why today’s gospel says that the ten lepers cried to Jesus to have mercy on them by keeping their distance from him (17:13) because it was prescribed in the Law of Moses as a precaution against the risk of contagion. They had to live in tents outside the village, isolated and cut-off from family and society. They had to wear torn clothes, let their hair dishevelled and cry out “Unclean, unclean” by covering their upper lip (cf. Leviticus 13:45). Since the Jews considered leprosy as a punishment for one’s sins, their condition invited less sympathy from others because they believed that the lepers deserved their fate due to their sins. The isolation experienced by leprosy patients from their families and society was really terrible.

Secondly, this leper was a despised Samaritan. The Samaritans were a mixed race – descendant of those Jews who took pagan wives of Samarian territory after their return from exile. The Jews considered Samaritans half-breeds, heretics and called them ‘foreigners’ (17:18) in their own native place. Luke makes this hated foreigner real hero of his story and presents him as a model of gratitude for the chosen people (Israelites). This must have really shocked his Jewish listeners.

The way these ten leprosy patients cried out, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us" (17:13), indicated that they considered him more than an ordinary man. Otherwise, they would have begged for alms rather than mercy from him and would not have addressed him as Master – a person who had some moral and spiritual authority. We can guess that a request for healing from their dreaded disease was implied in their cry – since they were probably aware of Jesus’ healing power manifested in other miracles. Many might have ignored the lepers and probably paid no attention to their cry. But when Jesus “saw them" (17:14), he could also see their pain and plight; hence, he began the process of their total restoration to normal life in their society. Instead of healing them instantly, he asked them to follow the rule of showing themselves to the priests in order to get their certificate for social restoration (17:14). Their obedience to his command and faith in him healed them as they set out (17:14).

It is interesting to note that instead of saying all of them were healed, Luke says all of them were “made clean” (17:14). Besides healing that restored their bodily health, they needed a cleansing also to restore them to social and religious communion that enabled them to re-join their families and community and participate in religious worship. Then Luke mentions that though all the ten were cleansed, only the Samaritan “saw that he was healed” and turned back to thank Jesus (17:15-16). This is not an ordinary seeing, but a seeing (with the eyes of faith) of the presence of God’s saving love working through Jesus. He saw what others failed to see: it was God’s work done through Jesus; hence, God deserved glory and Jesus deserved to be thanked. Whereas the other nine were more concerned about re-joining their families and social life, this person felt that showing gratitude to Jesus was his first priority. He turned back praising God with a loud voice (17:15) which, according to Luke, was a natural response of those who experienced divine power and mercy (cf. 2:20; 13:13). His prostration at Jesus’ feet (17:16) shows that he believed that Jesus was endowed with divine power.

Jesus told the Samaritan leper to get up and go his way, because his faith had made him well, or as per another translation, his faith had saved him (17:19). All were healed but one, that also a foreigner, was saved. He not only received the gift of physical healing from a dreaded disease (= leprosy) but also inner cleansing from sins, that is, salvation. Quite contrary to the view held by Pharisees, this Samaritan was saved by faith alone, not by meticulous observance of Mosaic Law. The faith of the ten lepers led to their physical healing, but the gratitude of the Samaritan leper brought salvation and wholeness as well.

4.    Application to life 

As in his time, today too Jesus goes in search of us or reaches out to us who are like leprosy patients, even when we are keeping our distance from him so that we may open our eyes to recognise his saving deeds. Our sins are worse than leprosy. They make us unclean and impure as leprosy patients were considered in Jesus’ times. They isolate us from God and community and break off our love-relationship with both. As forgiven sinners, we are all like lepers who are cleansed. Jesus restores our broken relationship and makes us whole. Our experience of being healed and cleansed from sins (or being made well) must lead us to praise and thank God for his wonderful saving deeds.

The nine Israelites, though healed from the dreaded disease (leprosy), are not affected deeply by that experience. We can be either like the nine leprosy patients who are changed superficially or like the Samaritan leper who is touched deeply and responds with gratitude. The first surprising element in this story is that such a tremendous saving deed did not touch the nine, though they also were cleansed. Luke says that only one of them “saw that he was healed” (17:15). He ‘saw’ in his miraculous cure the mighty hand of God who intervened to save him.

The second shocking element (for Jewish listeners) is that the one who returned to give thanks was a hated and despised Samaritan. Since the Israelites were privileged to be God’s chosen people, they should have recognised his boundless mercy first and returned to give thanks. But it is the despised foreigner who saw it and showed gratitude to God. The text says that the Samaritan patient “returned” to give thanks. This shows that giving thanks is like turning back to the source or origin of all the help we received. For a person of faith, if not God who else is the source of all that we are and all that we have? Ingratitude is a kind of leprosy that isolates or cuts us off from the source of all goodness. Surely there are moments when we failed to return to God to thank him for his gifts and blessings. The nine leprosy patients were more anxious to go home and reunite with their families than thanking Jesus for such a wonderful favour. In their eagerness they forgot to thank first the source of their well-being. Suppose we were in their position what would have been our priority?

We need to cultivate an attitude of gratitude to God for his goodness towards us in cleansing us from sins and impure minds as well as restoring and healing our broken relationships. Just like the Samaritan, our sense of gratitude to God is the result of our experience of being healed from our spiritual and social leprosy. When we stretch this idea a bit further, all thanksgiving to God is a response of our faith. In faith, we acknowledge every blessing, grace and gift which God out of his love and benevolence bestows on us.  It is also recognition of God’s saving deeds or mighty works in human history and our personal lives.

Often we approach God when we are in trouble. Thus he becomes “an Emergency God” for our external needs. Once our needs are met or when the trouble is over we forget to thank him. Do so many devotees who flock to shrines and healing centres begging for favours from God (quite often through the intercession of Mother Mary if it is a Marian Shrine), come to love him and neighbours better once their needs are met? In fact, our whole life ought to be a continual act of thanksgiving to God. Thanksgiving is the faith-response of the receiver of divine grace that has made well or saved him/her from physical or spiritual illness (17:19). It is also a type of remembrance. It is a recalling to one’s mind what good and marvellous deeds God has done for us or remembering those deeds with a grateful heart. Another way of generating a sense of gratitude within us is to remember our past history: where and what we were once upon a time, and where we have come and what we have become now. Considering the humble origins of many of our present talents, abilities and achievements, and also our sinful past, we cannot but give thanks to God who is the source of all blessings. That is why the Psalmist says: “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits” (103:2). As constant beneficiaries of God’s favours and blessings, should we not always raise our hearts in gratitude to God?

There is a tendency in us to forget to thank not only God but also those who did so much good to us, once our needs are met. Many times God’s blessings, gifts, love and providence come to us through others, especially our parents, teachers, guides or role models. Any gesture of gratitude shown to them is also a gratitude shown to God himself, since it is He who sent these benefactors to us. The fact that a foreigner returned to thank Jesus while his own people walked away has another lesson for us. Often familiarity breeds contempt and we forget to appreciate or show gratitude to our own family members/ religious community’s members. While we are more courteous and grateful to outsiders, we take people who are close to us for granted. This attitude creates a distance between us and our own near and dear ones. Though we call them “near and dear ones,” they become less near and dear than outsiders. Nowadays, there are young people who consider their aged parents as a nuisance, and do not bother to take care of them. Even in societies where care for aged parents was traditionally regarded as a sacred duty of their children, we observe some of them being ‘dumped’ in old-age homes or in a corner to live separately. Is this the way we repay our debt to those who did everything for us?

The nine lepers who did not return to give thanks to God did not obtain an inner purification; they were cleansed only externally from their physical leprosy but not from their inner leprosy. Similarly, often God’s love and his goodness do not touch us deeply and change our attitudes. Though he cleanses us from our sins and other bondages even when we are keeping our distance from him like those lepers, we are ungrateful and lack enough faith to recognise his saving deeds. The ten lepers believed that Jesus was their only hope in the midst of isolation and segregation experienced by them. They cried out to Jesus to show mercy on their terrible and miserable condition. It was faith that restored them to total health and saved them from misery.

There is no dearth of people who are treated like lepers even today. They symbolize all the people who are isolated, rejected, stigmatized, ostracized and excommunicated by society and the Church. We can think of people who are treated like ‘lepers’ in our family, neighbourhood, village, community, classroom and institutions. There are regions in the world where leprosy and AIDs patients are thrown out of their families and societies even today – in some cases even if they are highly educated and hold good jobs. In many families and societies addicts to alcohol or drugs, differently-abled persons and crime prone children are not accepted. The Church also, since ages, has treated public sinners, heretics, divorcees, gays, etc., with harshness and condemnation. Sometimes they cry out: “Have mercy on us.” Are we compassionate to their cry like Jesus and reach out to them?

5.    Response to God's Word

Does the realisation that all that we are and have is God’s gift lead us to a deep sense of gratitude to God? Do we count our blessings? How do we express our gratitude? The very meaning of Eucharist is ‘Thanksgiving’. Do we realise that whenever we go to participate in the Eucharist we go to give thanks to God not only for our salvation through the ‘paschal event’ (passion, death and resurrection of Christ) but also for everything, A to Z? Are there signs of ingratitude in us towards God, family members (especially our parents) and our friends in need? Do we take people for granted from whom God’s blessings came (and continue to come) to us?

6.    A Prayer

O Lord, you have given to me all that I have and possess. In full response to your bountiful gifts, graces, mercy and salvation, I offer to you whatever I have and I am. Whatever I have is your gift to me, and whatever I give you freely is my gift to you. Amen.