Gospel Reflection on Luke 17:11-19

October 12, 2025

On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samar′ia and Galilee. And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. Then said Jesus, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”

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All of us have parts of our lives that seem to us to be incomplete, sometimes even distorted.

In many ways we're all wounded. There's no such thing as a human being who feels completely whole or normal. There are always issues that eat away at each one of us from within and cry out for some kind of solution. There's a tendency for us as human beings become so preoccupied with our own particular problems that this is all we can think of. We believe that if this or that particular issue was fixed then somehow we would be whole or complete.

Our culture pushes us to believe that our physical well-being is everything. We seek this well-being constantly and often sadly overlook other dimensions of human wholeness.

Jesus tells us a story about lepers who come to him to be healed of their illness. Nine of the lepers are healed and simply go on their way. Only one of the ten realizes that health is not everything.

There are people in perfect health who know nothing about love. Others who suffer from difficult and chronic illnesses have a marvelous love. Who know how to forgive and how to be generous? Very often an illness or an experience of suffering can be the road to love.

Being healed physically is of little use if it doesn't lead to becoming a whole person.

Being healed and being saved are two very different things.

One of those ten lepers return to give thanks. In fact he returns to Jesus before going to the authorities to be declared clean. He discovered something more important than physical health. The salvation of that Samaritan was not to be healed of leprosy but to enter into a relationship of gratitude with the Lord. He now knows what really matters. He has encountered God.

In the same way the graces we receive if they don't lead to a more authentic relationship

with God and other people, then they're wasted. No matter how miraculous or spectacular they may be, arriving at the true depths of our existence is more important than being in good health or having all of our problems solved.

So what does that look like? Well we might ask ourselves these questions: am I living in this moment, not looking down the road at what might come? Do I appreciate the very gift of life that I've received? Are my eyes looking outward toward those who I am called to help? Do I treasure this created world as a living expression of the presence of God?

We live in a network of these relationships. Holiness is found when we nourish all of them.

Nourishing these bonds creates depth in our lives and lifts us up and lifts up those around

us. Happiness is best expressed as wholeness and this Thanksgiving weekend, all of us need

to renew our vision to see more clearly the gifts that surround us, even in our times of frailty, gratitude is the water that lifts the boats we live on and the boats of all those around us.