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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 voices,
saying, “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!” Luke 17:11–13
This story begins very well for all ten of these lepers. For nine
of them, it ends tragically. For one, it ends in an even better and
more glorious way than it began.
The lepers represent us all. Their illness was a symbol of all sin
and the consequences of sin. When the disease began, the lepers
began to experience the effects of their disease. Discolored and
thick dry skin, sores, and rashes would set in. Once detected, each
leper was removed from the community to stop the spread of the
disease and was only free to associate with other lepers. They no
longer could gather freely with their loved ones as the lepers
entered isolation and shame. Analogously, all sin has similar
effects. Sin causes pain within our souls as we discover the
growing wounds it causes. Sin affects our relationships and our
ability to freely relate to those whom we love.
The initial cure for sin is simple. We cry out, “Jesus, Master!
Have pity on me!” But that is only the first step. By curing the
lepers, Jesus was showing us that He had power over our sin. He
could forgive us and will forgive us when we seek His mercy. But
forgiveness will end in tragedy if it does not lead us to faith and
to a following of the will of God with zeal and determination. If
we take the forgiveness of sins for granted, then we will be in an
even more miserable state than before. The nine lepers who failed
to return and give thanks to God represent those who do not convert
their lives when touched by God’s merciful hand.
This story highlights the importance of our response to God when He
does touch us. We must glorify God with a loud voice, fall on our
knees before Him and express our deepest gratitude. When the one
leper does this, Jesus says to him, “Stand up and go; your faith
has saved you.” That mercy from our Lord was a mercy that touched
his soul. It imparted the gift of faith and enabled this man to go
forth and be healed with eternal graces.
Too often we turn to God in prayer only when we have a problem.
Then, once the problem is taken care of, we pay little to no
attention to our Lord. God’s role in our lives is not to fix our
problems so that we can then go about our daily lives as normal.
His mercy must evoke ongoing and profound gratitude. Gratitude to
God is nothing other than an acknowledgement of the truth. We owe
everything to God. Without Him, we are nothing. We are dead in our
sins. Just one leper realized this and was blessed with the gift of
faith that saved not only his body, but also his soul.
Reflect, today, upon the ways in which you turn to God in prayer.
It is good to come to Him with your needs and problems. It is good
to cry out “Jesus, Master! Have pity on me!” It is good to come to
Him as the Physician of your soul and the source of healing you
need. But that is not enough. In fact, if you stop there in your
life of prayer, you will end in a most miserable state. You will be
using God for your selfish advantage. Reflect upon whether you are
able to take the next and most important step in faith. Do you come
to Him when all is well? Do you praise Him with all your might for
all that He has done for you? Do you fall on your knees before Him
with the deepest gratitude in your heart? Reflect upon your prayer
and seek to imitate this one leper. If you do, your faith will also
save you and our Lord will invite you to rise and go forth, healed
in the truest way possible.
Most merciful Lord, You are able to do all things. You are able
to heal all my wounds, forgive my sins and solve every problem I
encounter. As I cry out to You in my need, please do heal me. In
response, may I always turn back to You with the deepest gratitude
and praise so that my faith in You will grow and my love for You
will truly flourish. Jesus, I trust in You.
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