Reading 1
at the word of Elisha, the man of God.
His flesh became again like the flesh of a little child,
and he was clean of his leprosy.
Naaman returned with his whole retinue to the man of God.
On his arrival he stood before Elisha and said,
"Now I know that there is no God in all the earth,
except in Israel.
Please accept a gift from your servant."
Elisha replied, "As the LORD lives whom I serve, I will not take it;"
and despite Naaman's urging, he still refused.
Naaman said: "If you will not accept,
please let me, your servant, have two mule-loads of earth,
for I will no longer offer holocaust or sacrifice
to any other god except to the LORD."
Responsorial Psalm
R. (cf. 2b) The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.
Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done wondrous deeds;
his right hand has won victory for him,
his holy arm.
R. The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.
The LORD has made his salvation known:
in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.
He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness
toward the house of Israel.
R. The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation by our God.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands:
break into song; sing praise.
R. The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.
Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done wondrous deeds;
his right hand has won victory for him,
his holy arm.
R. The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.
The LORD has made his salvation known:
in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.
He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness
toward the house of Israel.
R. The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation by our God.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands:
break into song; sing praise.
R. The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.
Reading 2
Beloved:
Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David:
such is my gospel, for which I am suffering,
even to the point of chains, like a criminal.
But the word of God is not chained.
Therefore, I bear with everything for the sake of those who are chosen,
so that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus,
together with eternal glory.
This saying is trustworthy:
If we have died with him
we shall also live with him;
if we persevere
we shall also reign with him.
But if we deny him
he will deny us.
If we are unfaithful
he remains faithful,
for he cannot deny himself.
Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David:
such is my gospel, for which I am suffering,
even to the point of chains, like a criminal.
But the word of God is not chained.
Therefore, I bear with everything for the sake of those who are chosen,
so that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus,
together with eternal glory.
This saying is trustworthy:
If we have died with him
we shall also live with him;
if we persevere
we shall also reign with him.
But if we deny him
he will deny us.
If we are unfaithful
he remains faithful,
for he cannot deny himself.
Gospel
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!"
And when he saw them, he said,
"Go show yourselves to the priests."
As they were going they were cleansed.
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.
Jesus said in reply,
"Ten were cleansed, were they not?
Where are the other nine?
Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?"
Then he said to him, "Stand up and go;
your faith has saved you."
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!"
And when he saw them, he said,
"Go show yourselves to the priests."
As they were going they were cleansed.
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.
Jesus said in reply,
"Ten were cleansed, were they not?
Where are the other nine?
Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?"
Then he said to him, "Stand up and go;
your faith has saved you."
Theme for reflection: Leprosy of Sin
Leprosy
is a deadly disease because it separates the victim from the community.
In
that sense it is no different than death itself which separates us from the
living.
Unlike
in death there are a few exceptions, the first one is that of some people
accommodating a leprous. Prominent among them is the leprous community itself,
which welcomes another leprous and even understands the state of his leprous brother
or sister belonging to the community.
The
other category could be the parents or the near or loved ones who will accept
their own leprous and will do anything to reach out to them.
While
the parents would reach out to them they would take the help of the medical
fraternity wherever possible.
Why
So? Leprosy is a contagious disease which eats into us and renders our nerves
and limbs lifeless, numb and deformed.
If
one were to explain the consequences of sin, then it has the same effect on the
individual. Hence, just as leprosy is to the body so too is the effect of sin
on the soul.
Just
as leprosy separates us from others so too sin separates us from the life of
God.
Such
is the separation of the lepers that even God in Christ Jesus does not go out
of his way to reach out to them on his own volition.
Rather they in their
misery cry out to Jesus first; "Jesus,
Master! Have pity on us!"
God
though may not reach out to us without our consent or desire but he does reach
out to us promptly if only we cry out to him who is able to save us, our savior
God.
We need to take that first step and God will even take a thousand steps forward in order to reach out to us with his saving grace.
We need to take that first step and God will even take a thousand steps forward in order to reach out to us with his saving grace.
And
what is more, he even restores to us to the community from which we have been
estranged, through the office of the priest.
Just as in the Old Testament a priest would separate the victim of leprosy from the commonwealth of Israel and then also becomes an instrument to restore the leper, who is cleansed, back to the community similarly Jesus through his death on the cross and through the ministry of reconciliation exercised by the priest restores us back to the community of Christian faith.
Just as in the Old Testament a priest would separate the victim of leprosy from the commonwealth of Israel and then also becomes an instrument to restore the leper, who is cleansed, back to the community similarly Jesus through his death on the cross and through the ministry of reconciliation exercised by the priest restores us back to the community of Christian faith.
Similarly, the priest by proclaiming the moral gospel of Jesus may bring about an estrangement of the sinners in the midst of the church as in the Old Testament.likewise by the proclamation of the word and by calling people to repentance and faith he reconciles and restores them to God and to one another.
Some additional scripture verses for reflection and use:
The Lord said to Moses, 2 "This shall be the
law of the leper for the day of his cleansing. He shall be brought to the
priest; 3 and the priest shall go
out of the camp, and the priest shall make an examination. Lev 14:1-3
Read Lev. Chps. 13 & 14
Therefore remember
that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called the uncircumcision by what
is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands - 12 remember that you were at
that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and
strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the
world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus
you who once were far off have been brought near in the blood of Christ. 14 For he is our peace, who
has made us both one, and has broken down the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by abolishing in his flesh
the law of commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new
man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and
might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby bringing
the hostility to an end. 17 And he came and preached
peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; 18 for through him we both
have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So
then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens
with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built upon the foundation
of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone. Eph 2:11-20
For it was fitting
that we should have such a high priest, holy, blameless, unstained, separated
from sinners, exalted above the heavens. 27 He
has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his
own sins and then for those of the people; he did this once for all when he
offered up himself. Heb
7:26-27
Once you were no
people but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy but now
you have received mercy. 1 Peter
2:10
I have already
charged that all men, both Jews and Greeks, are under the power of sin, 10 as it is written: "None
is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands, no one
seeks for God. 12 All
have turned aside, together they have gone wrong; no one does good, not even
one." 13 "Their
throat is an open grave, they use their tongues to deceive." "The
venom of asps is under their lips." 14 "Their
mouth is full of curses and bitterness." 15 "Their feet are swift
to shed blood, 16 in their paths are ruin
and misery, 17 and the way of peace they
do not know." 18 "There is no fear of
God before their eyes." 19 Now we know that whatever
the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may
be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For no human being will be
justified in his sight by works of the law, since through the law comes
knowledge of sin. 21 But
now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from law, although the
law and the prophets bear witness to it, 22 the
righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For
there is no distinction; 23 since all have sinned and
fall short of the glory of God, 24 they are justified by his
grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as an
expiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's
righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former
sins; 26 it was to prove at the
present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies him who has
faith in Jesus. Rom
3:9-26
DD = Dedicated
Discipleship: Come grow
in the Lord with us
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