Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

First Reading

2 Kings 5:14-17

Naaman went down and plunged into the Jordan seven times
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."

Second reading

2 Timothy 2:8-13

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.

Gospel

Luke 17:11-19

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."

Sermon

Dear sisters and brothers in faith,

The core of the story we have just heard from the Gospel of Luke is not primarily about Jesus' miracle of healing the 10 lepers. The real key word for the whole story is “gratitude”:

There are 10 lepers – people who were practically socially dead at that time. They have not the slightest reason to be grateful for their lot. All ten are healed after their encounter with Jesus, but only one is said to have been helped by his faith – because he turned back to praise and thank God loudly.

At first, this last episode seems like an addendum to the seemingly decisive event, namely the healing of leprosy, which all 10 receive. Only the one – the grateful one – hears another word, which we also know from other biblical miracle stories: “Get up and go! Your faith has helped you.”

It is as if a second healing had taken place – something that goes beyond the healing of leprosy. I believe that this is not merely an addition – no: this second healing, which is evident in the gratitude of the one man, is the actual core message of this passage from the Gospel.

Gratitude is one of the basic rules of polite behavior in our society, but precisely because it is merely a rule of etiquette, saying thank you has often lost its true meaning and value. Indeed, I would even go so far as to say that genuine gratitude is anything but a matter of course in our society. After all, saying thank you ultimately means admitting that not everything depends on me and is within my power; that, as the person I am, I am dependent on the help and care of others. In young children, sick people, and the elderly, this dependence on the care of others is very tangible.

But being childishly weak, sick, or old is not considered desirable or valuable in our society. What counts here is being able to help oneself, being independent, and not relying on anyone else's help. The “self-made” man and the “power” woman—these are the ideal types in our society. “Make yourself as independent as possible from the help of others! Trust no one but yourself! Don't forget that in our world, no one is given anything for free! Don't owe anyone anything – not even thanks!” These are often-heard rules of behavior and survival in our society. But they are rules that conceal a great deal of bitter life experience: perhaps the experience of having been left alone when you needed help; or the experience of having reaped only ingratitude for well-intentioned efforts.

And I suspect that the ideal of being free and independent from others is often just an excuse, a retreat into a well-armored shell – to protect oneself from repeating such bad experiences.

Or so-called self-confidence, which is widely regarded as a fundamental trait of a strong personality: doesn't it happen time and again that people suddenly lose all their supposed self-confidence and self-esteem when, due to age, illness, or accident, they suddenly no longer have their previous abilities and strengths at their disposal?

At this point, at the latest, it becomes clear how little an attitude that believes everything is owed to oneself actually achieves. I therefore maintain that it is precisely those people who believe they owe nothing to anyone but themselves who are sick and in need of healing!

A few years ago, the Benedictine monk David Steindl-Rast, who is now almost 100 years old, wrote in one of his lectures:

Focusing our attention on an attitude of gratitude is a form of mindful spiritual practice that has the advantage of producing results very quickly. If we resolve in the morning to be grateful for everything we encounter that day, we may already be noticeably happier by the evening.

What does gratitude mean?

It is the awareness of the uniqueness of each given moment. The spiritual practice of gratitude does not depend on any language, any culture, any religion—it depends on nothing. Everyone can recognize this and try it for themselves. It's that simple...

The greatest happiness, the deepest self-affirmation, and thus the true healing of human beings does not consist in their ability to do everything and, out of sheer independence, owe their lives only to themselves. It is not what people achieve and defend through their own efforts that makes them valuable. That is one of the great illusions and maladies of modern performance-oriented society. Rather, people experience the greatest happiness and the most complete healing when they owe their lives to the free gift of love and affection from another person. And may this give rise again and again to the ability to make a good life possible for others and for ourselves!