The Word of God Unchained

There is no chaining the word of God! But how many times do we attempt to do that very thing? Had the followers of Jesus or the teachers of the law or the Pharisees been asked if the lepers should be cleansed or healed, the answer would most likely have been, “No, they deserve their condition.”

The lepers would have been, perhaps, a mixed group, Galileans and Samaritans alike, the bond of their awful disease overcoming the pettiness of former religious bickering. Jesus’ actions once again illustrate his vocation and ours: to reach out when healing is needed, to challenge when conversion is needed, to console when comfort is needed. He also follows his own advice from last week’s Gospel: do what you have been commanded to do. When the cleansed Samaritan has returned to give thanks, Jesus does not take it as an opportunity for self-aggrandizement, but rather offers insight into faith.