28th Sunday Ordinary :: Op-stjoseph.org

28th Sunday In O.T. 10-14-07 Scripture Readings First : 2 Kings 5: 14-17 Second : 2 Timothy 2: 8-13 Gospel Luke 17:11-19 Prepared by: Fr. Stephen Dominic Hayes, O.P. 1. Subject Matter •

The Gospel this week deals with the story of the 10 lepers healed by Jesus, only one of which, a Samaritan, returned to him to give thanks. The question of ingratitude as a sin and as St. Thomas Aquinas describes it, a “special sin” is a natural subject for a sermon this week.

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The first reading also deals with the leprosy of Naaman the Syrian, whose leprosy was healed by the prophet Elisha. Leprosy is a biblical metaphor for sin, as the sufferer is existing in a kind of living death, which under the law made him unclean for worship or even life within God’s people; the spiritual disease which is sin likewise separates the sinner from God and the holy community, the Church, that rightly worships him; but the power of Christ can heal one even from the "living death", which is sin. The Sacrament of baptism is prefigured in Naaman’s miraculous healing in the Jordan river.

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Because it Christ has healed us from sin and death, and has opened the gates of Heaven to us, we have a duty to show gratitude to him. This is expressed in the life of prayer, and above all in our fervent participation in the Churches sacrifice of Thanksgiving (Eucharistia), which is the Holy Mass, and in our adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

2. Exegetical Notes •

First : 2 Kings 5: 14-17 In belated obedience to the command given him by the prophet Elisha, Naaman the Syrian washes seven times in the Jordan and is cured of his leprosy. Made clean, he presents himself to the prophet, and vows never to serve any other God accept the God of Israel. In profound gratitude, he asks permission to take two mule-loads of the soil of Israel upon which to erect an altar to God in his own nation, but upon God's earth. The passage foreshadows the Sacrament of Baptism, instituted by Jesus in the waters of the Jordan River, by which we

have freed from the loathsome contagion of sin, and so made fit for righteous worship and thanksgiving (Eucharist) in the presence of the true God. Although God owes us no debt of gratitude ( cf. last week's reading Lk 7: 1-10), we all him profound gratitude for the gifts of natural life, salvation, and eternal life which he has bestowed upon us. •

Second : 2 Timothy 2: 8-13 The passage consists of two parts: vv. 8-10, in which Paul summarizes his Gospel about Jesus Christ, and vv.11-13, in which Paul adapts an ancient Christian hymn to profess his faith that the spiritual death we undergo through baptism that conforms us to Christ both in his dying, and his being raised to eternal life. There is also a confession here of the reality of mystical body of Christ, in which its members, joined by the power of the Holy Spirit, and surely be of use to each other through their sufferings and endurance; Paul expressed as the hope that though he is imprisoned for preaching the Gospel, what he suffers will be useful to those other Christians, who like him, remain steadfast to their baptismal faith in Christ.

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Gospel Luke 17:11-19: The story of the 10 lepers follows last week's warning against resting in one's own works. This week, Christ reminds us of the power of grace and our utter dependence on it. Although by far most commentators take this passage as a miracle story actually reflecting an event in Jesus’ healing ministry, certain others, most prominently R. Bultmann, hold it to be a parable based on Mark 1:40-45 and 2 Kings 5 ( on Naaman the Syrian; the text of the first reading). The judgment is based on the ending of the periscope, which finishes with a statement, rather than with the spectators marveling at the miracle, as do other miracle stories. On the other hand, the reference to “ between (i.e., the border lands of ) Samaria and Galilee” suggests a specific time and place for the miracle, and specific historical detail not characteristic of the usual parable story. Castelot (JBC 76:117-119) holds, without making an argument, that leprosy . as discussed in Leviticus, and by extension in the Gospel under discussion (since Jesus,. come in accordance with Leviticus 13, instructs the lepers to show themselves to the priests) is not Hansen’s disease, which is modernly signified by the word “leprosy”. On the other hand, McKenzie (JBC 43:56), commenting on Matthew 8:1-4, states that the Biblical notion of leprosy “is used loosely throughout the Bible for unspecified skin diseases,” including, it would seem, Hansen’s disease. (The basic medical facts of Hansen's disease are described below, under “ Other Considerations”). It seems the commentators are divided as to whether the ten men appeared to Jesus are lepers in a modern medical sense. In any case, for purposes of the didactic content of the healing miracle, it matters not whether we are dealing with Hansen's disease or eczema. V. 12: The ten “leproi” are a mixed company, containing both Jews and at least one Samaritan. Both those who are members of God's people in those out side of it share the same physical disease; sin and the power of sin likewise afflict both those to whom God's revelation has been entrusted and those who are ignorant of it.

v. 14: On hearing, the lepers’ plea for healing Jesus enjoins them to show themselves “to the priests” - and this without yet being healed. They are cleansed on the way, having first set themselves to obey the word of Christ . without yet seeing its effect. Christ requires them to act in faith, without immediately seeing the benefit of his healing power. V. 15: The Samaritan who turned back to give thanks recalls the Syrian Naaman (of this week's first reading) , who turned back to thank the prophet Elisha, giving thanks to God, and vowing to worship, the God of Israel from then on. In another text, Jesus uses Naaman as an example of someone outside of Israel to whom the power of God was manifested (Luke 4:27) ; likewise, it is to a Samaritan woman that Jesus promises an extension and perfection of the reign of God : (John 4:21) “ Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.” Jesus emphasizes that the proper attitude of the heart, for one who has received the grace of God is one of thanksgiving and gratitude. In this he holds up the Samaritan, who though he does not obey the whole law of Moses, from his heart, who fills the obligations of thanksgiving and gratitude possessed by a heart rightly ordered to God. V. 15 “Stand up and go, your faith is saved you.” The Samaritan's faith in Jesus has brought him salvation, not his, from the Jewish standpoint, imperfect and incomplete observance of the law of Moses. Salvation is through faith in Jesus Christ; a point which the Savior makes elsewhere in this Gospel (7:50; 8:48,50) 3. References to the Catechism of the Catholic Church •

#1418: Because Christ himself is present in the Sacrament of the Altar, he is to be honored with the worship of adoration. "To visit the Blessed Sacrament is … a proof of gratitude, an expression of love, and a duty of adoration toward Christ our Lord ." (Paul VI, MF 66)

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#1334: In the Old Covenant, bread and wine were offered in sacrifice among the first fruits of the earth as a sign of grateful acknowledgment to the Creator. But they also received a new significance in the context of the Exodus: the unleavened bread that Israel eats every year at Passover commemorates the haste of the departure that liberated them from Egypt; the remembrance of the manna in the desert will always recall to Israel hat it lives by the bread of the Word of God; their daily bread is the fruit of the promised land, the pledge of God's faithfulness to his promises. The " cup of blessing" at the end of the Jewish Passover meal adds to the festive joy of wine and a eschatological dimension: the messianic expectation of the rebuilding of Jerusalem. When Jesus instituted the Eucharist he gave a new and definitive meaning to the blessing of the bread and the cup.

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#1360: The Eucharist is a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the Father, a blessing by which the Church expresses her gratitude to God for all his benefits, for all that he has accomplished through creation, redemption, and sanctification. Eucharist means first of all "Thanksgiving."

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#1900: The duty of obedience requires all to give two honored to authority and to treat those who are charged to exercise it with respect, and, insofar as it is deserved, with gratitude and goodwill. …

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#2099: It is right to offer sacrifice to God as a sign of adoration and gratitude, supplication and Communion: "Every action done so as to cling to God in communion of holiness, and thus achieve blessedness, is a true sacrifice." (St. Augustine, De civitate Dei, 10,6).

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#2220: For Christians a special gratitude is due to those from whom they have received the gift of faith, the grace of baptism, and life in the Church. These may include parents, grandparents, other members of the family, pastors, catechists, and other teachers or friends. "I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and now, I am sure, dwells in you." (2 Timothy 1:5).

4. Patristic Commentary and Other Authorities •

St. Ambrose: After speaking the foregoing parable (i.e., Luke 17: 1-10), our Lord censures the ungrateful (in the Gospel under discussion).

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Titus of Bostrum (sic.) (actually Antipater?) “ And it came to pass..”, showing that the the Samaritan's were indeed well disposed towards the mercies above mentioned, but the Jews not so. ..

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Titus of Bostrum : They associated together from the sympathy they felt as partakers of the same calamity, and were waiting until Jesus passed, anxiously looking out to see him approach. As it is said, Which stood a far-off, for the Jewish law esteems leprosy unclean, where the law, of the Gospel calls unclean not the outward, but the inward leprosy.

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Titus of Bostrum : They pronounce the name of Jesus, and gain to themselves the reality. For Jesus is by interpretation Savior. They say, Have mercy upon us, because they were sensible of his power, and sought neither for gold nor silver, but that their bodies might put on again a healthful appearance.

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Theophylact: They do not merely supplicate or entreat him as if he were man, but they call him Master or Lord, as if almost they looked upon him as God. But he been since show themselves to the priests, as it follows, And when he saw them, he said, Go show yourselves to the priests. For they were examined whether they were cleansed from their leprosy or not. Therefore in telling them go to the priests, he meant nothing more than that they were just about to be healed; and so it follows, And it came to pass that as they went they were healed.

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Theophylact: We may gather from this that a man is not one bit hindered from pleasing God because he comes from a cursed race, only let him bear in his heart an honest purpose. Further, let not him that is born of saints boast himself, for the nine who were Israelites were ungrateful; and hence it follows, And Jesus answering him said, Were there not ten cleansed?

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Bede the Venerable: He fell on his face, because he blushes with shame when he remembers the evils he had committed. And he is commanded to rise and what, because he who, knowing his own weakness, lies lowly on the ground, his lead to advance by the consolation of the divine Word to mighty deeds. But if faith made him whole, who hurried himself back to give thanks, therefore does unbelief destroy those who have neglected to give glory to God for mercies received. Wherefore, we that we ought to increase our faith by humility, as it is declared in the former parable (i.e., Luke 17: 1-10), so that in this is it exemplified in the actions themselves.

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St Augustine: ( De Quaest. Ev. , l.ii.qu.40.) Now we find that of those upon whom our Lord bestowed bodily mercies, not one did he sent to the priests, save the lepers, for the Jewish priesthood was a figure of that priesthood which is in the Church. All vices our Lord corrects and heals by his own power working inwardly in the conscience, but the teaching of infusion by means of the Sacrament, or catechizing by word-of-mouth, was assigned to the Church. And as they went, they were cleansed; just as the Gentiles to whom Peter came, having not yet received the sacrament of Baptism, whereby we come spiritually to the priests, are declared cleansed by the infusion of the Holy Spirit. Whoever then follows you & doctrine in the fellowship of the Church, proclaiming himself to be free from the confusion of lies, as it were a leprosy, it still ungrateful to his cleanser . does not prostrate himself with pious humility of thanksgiving, is like to those of whom the Apostle says, And when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, nor were thankful.

5. Examples from the Saints and Other Exemplars •

St. Thomas Aquinas: (S.T. II-II, Q. 108, a.1) .. Tully (Cicero) reckons thankfulness a special part of justice (De. Inv. Rhet.ii). I answer that, … the nature of the debt to be paid must needs vary according to the various causes giving rise to do so that the greater always includes the lesser. The cause of debt is found primarily in you in God, and that he is the first principle of all our goods: secondarily he is found in our father, because he is the proximate principle of our beginning in a ringing: their leave is found in the person that excels in dignity, from General favors proceed; for that it is found in a benefactor, from whom we have received particular and private favors, an account of which we are under a particular obligation to him. Accordingly,…(an appropriate gratefulness) is distinct from the foregoing virtues just as each of these is distinct from the one that proceeds, as falling short thereof.

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St. Thomas Aquinas: (S.T. II-II, Q. 108, a.1, r.o.3.) Since true friendship is based on virtue, whenever there is contrary to virtue in a friend is an obstacle to friendship, and whatever in him is virtuous is an incentive to friendship. In this way friendship is preserved by repayment of favors, although repayment of favors belongs specially to the virtue of gratitude.

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St. Thomas Aquinas: (S.T. II-II, Q. 108, a.2. ) I answer that, Thanksgiving (gratiarum action) in the recipient corresponds to the favor (gratia) of the giver: so that when there is greater favor on the part of the giver, greater thanks are due on the part of the recipient. Now favor is something bestowed gratis; wherefore on the part of the giver the favor may be greater on two counts. First, owing to the quantity of the thing given: and in this way the innocent owes greater thanksgiving, because he receives a greater gift from God, - also, absolutely speaking, a more continuous gift, other things being equal. Secondly, a favor may be said to be greater, because it is given more gratuitously; and the sense the penitent is more bound to give thanks than the innocent, because what he receives from God is more gratuitously given; since, whereas he was deserving of punishment, he has received grace.

6. Quotations from Pope Benedict XVI •

Jesus gave this act of oblation an enduring presence through his institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper. He anticipated his death and resurrection by giving his disciples, in the bread and wine, his very self, his body and blood as the new manna (cf. Jn 6:31-33). The

ancient world had dimly perceived that man's real food—what truly nourishes him as man—is ultimately the Logos, eternal wisdom: this same Logos now truly becomes food for us—as love. The Eucharist draws us into Jesus' act of self-oblation. More than just statically receiving the incarnate Logos, we enter into the very dynamic of his self-giving. The imagery of marriage between God and Israel is now realized in a way previously inconceivable: it had meant standing in God's presence, but now it becomes union with God through sharing in Jesus' self-gift, sharing in his body and blood. The sacramental “mysticism”, grounded in God's condescension towards us, operates at a radically different level and lifts us to far greater heights than anything that any human mystical elevation could ever accomplish. (Deus Caritas est, 6) •

Perhaps Laurentin is not entirely off the mark when he finds the whole scene of the Visitation. constructed as a parallel to the homecoming of the Ark of the Covenant; thus the leaping of the child continues David's ecstatic joy of the guarantee of God's nearness. Be that as it may, something is expressed here that has been almost entirely lost in our century, and nonetheless belongs to the heart of faith; essential to it is the joy in the Word become man, the dance before the Ark of the Covenant, in self-forgetful happiness, by one who has recognized God's salvific nearness. Only against this background can Marian devotion be comprehended. Transcending all problems, Marian devotion is the rapture of joy over the true, indestructible Israel; it is a blissful entering into the joy of the Magnificat and thereby it is the praise in him to whom the daughter Zion owes her whole self and whom she bears, the true, incorruptible, indestructible Ark of the Covenant. (Daughter Zion, Meditations on the Church’s Marian Belief, John M. McDermott, as. J., Tr., Ignatius Press, San Francisco, 1983. 82, 83.)

7. Other Considerations •

More Information on Hansen’s Disease (Leprosy): http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001347.htm#Definition (Condensation): Leprosy (Hansen's disease)is an infectious disease that has been known since biblical times. It is characterized by disfiguring skin sores, nerve damage, and progressive debilitation. It is is caused by the organism Mycobacterium leprae. It is not very contagious and has a long incubation period (time before symptoms appear), which makes it difficult to determine where or when the disease was contracted. Children are more susceptible than adults to contracting the disease. Leprosy has two common forms, tuberculoid and lepromatous. Both forms produce sores on the skin, but the lepromatous form is most severe, producing large, disfiguring nodules. All forms of the disease eventually cause peripheral neurological damage (nerve damage in the arms and legs) which causes sensory loss in the skin and muscle weakness. People with long-term leprosy may lose the use of their hands or feet due to repeated injury resulting from lack of sensation. Leprosy is common in many countries worldwide, and in temperate, tropical, and subtropical climates. Approximately 100 cases per year are diagnosed in the United States. Most cases are limited to the South, California, Hawaii, and U.S. island possessions. Effective medications exist, and isolation of victims in "leper colonies" is unnecessary today. The emergence of drug-resistant Mycobacterium leprae, as well as increased numbers of cases worldwide, have led to global concern about this disease. A number of different antibiotics are used to kill the bacteria that causes the disease. Aspirin, prednisone, or thalidomide are used to control inflammation. Early

treatment limits damage by the disease, renders the person noninfectious, and allows for a normal lifestyle. Prevention consists of avoiding close physical contact with untreated people. People on long-term medication become noninfectious (they do not transmit the organism that causes the disease). Update Date: 7/25/2007 •

Hansen's disease has a similarity to and seems to be an apt metaphor for the condition of the mortal sinner in that the person far removed from the gift of fear of the Lord, which St. Thomas Aquinas associates with the theological virtual of hope, likewise ceases to “feel” the spiritual effects of their sin. As the leper frequently inflicts long-term and repeated injury upon his or her body precisely because of the inability to feel, and is ignorant of the pain and infection associated with these injuries, so does the sinner, in the midst of sin, cease to feel the wickedness or evil of the deeds and life to which he or she is committed.

Recommended Resources Brown, Raymond E., S.S., Fitzmeyer, Joseph, S.J., and Murphy, Roland E., O. Carm. The Jerome Biblical Commentary. Two Vols. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1968. John Cassian. The Conferences. Trans. and annotated by Boniface Ramsey, O.P., Ancient Christian Writers Series No. 57. Walter J.Burghart, John Dillon, and Dennis D. McManus, Eds. New York, N.Y. and Mahwah , N.J.: Newman Press, 1997. Jurgens, William A. The Faith of the Early Fathers. 3 Vols. Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1979. Thomas Aquinas, St. Catena Aurea: Commentary on the Four Gospels Collected out of the Works of the Fathers.. Albany, N.Y.: Preserving Christian Publications, Inc., 2001. Thomas Aquinas, St. Summa Theologica. 3 Vols. Literally translated by the Fathers of the English Dominican Province. New York, Boston, Cincinnati, Chicago, and San Francisco: Benzinger Brothers, Inc., 1947. Cameron, Peter John, O.P., ed. Benedictus: Day by Day with Pope Benedict XVI. Yonkers, NY: Magnificat/Ignatius Press, 2006.