Readings for Wednesday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time[1][2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 Wis 6:1-11
The Wisdom author instructs the rulers of the day, secular and religious, telling them that God, who is more powerful than they can imagine requires them to rule justly and to be compassionate in their rule, especially to the poor. He warns that if they are not, judgment against them will be harsh.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 82:3-4, 6-7
R. Rise up, O God, bring judgment to the earth.
Echoing the Wisdom instruction to show compassion to the poor, Psalm 82 places the same warning on the leadership. There is a stern warning that God’s judgment will be leveled against those who abuse their power.
Gospel Lk 17:11-19
The story of the Samaritan Leper, found only in St. Luke’s Gospel, reiterates Jesus’ ability to remove sins. Here the Lord cures 10 Lepers, outcasts who are viewed by the community as being under God’s punishment. When only the Samaritan returns to Jesus to thank the Lord for expressing God’s love through healing, Jesus pointedly asks where the Jews who received the same blessing have gone. While the Lord’s response to the praise of the Samaritan; “Your faith has cured you” is heard in other instances (see Luke 7:50; 8:48, 50), the more global message, that Christ came for the world is implicit in the story.
Reflection:
We have recently reflected upon this scripture (See the homily for the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time). While the Wisdom reading and the psalm give it in a slightly different emphasis, the story stands well on its own.
The emphasis is changed with the instruction by Wisdom which is directed at those who have authority over others. In the broader sense that is just about everyone. At some point, most of us have authority over others; parents over children, older siblings over younger, the sales-person over the customer, and even the baby sitter over their charge. At the very bottom of that structure of authority are the poor, the homeless, and the very young. The exhortations of Wisdom are applied to all of us – those with authority must use it with compassion especially, we are told, when it comes to dealing with the poor.
While Wisdom and the Psalms give these instructions in words, Jesus showed us what those words meant with actions. We are given one example today as he encounters the ten lepers. It would have been customary in the Lord’s time to shun those afflicted people who called to him from a distance. They would have been viewed as sinful people of the worst sort, punished by God with a rotting disease that would, in addition to the horrible and disfiguring effects of the illness itself, require them to be outcast. No one could go near them; they must be dependent upon the charity of others for their existence.
The Lord could easily have shunned the lepers as prescribed by the law. But with authority from God comes great responsibility, especially for the powerless. With a word from the Lamb of God, they were made clean. His example to us once more proclaimed in actions.
Today we hear the words of Wisdom and we see the example of Jesus our Lord and mentor. We ask for the wisdom and understanding to see in our environment ways to reach out to those who are powerless and the strength to follow the path the Lord has shown us.
Pax
[1] After Links to Readings Expire
[2] The picture used is Jesus Heals the Ten Lepers, Caspar Luken, 1700
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
Commentary:
Reading 1 Wis 6:1-11
The Wisdom author instructs the rulers of the day, secular and religious, telling them that God, who is more powerful than they can imagine requires them to rule justly and to be compassionate in their rule, especially to the poor. He warns that if they are not, judgment against them will be harsh.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 82:3-4, 6-7
R. Rise up, O God, bring judgment to the earth.
Echoing the Wisdom instruction to show compassion to the poor, Psalm 82 places the same warning on the leadership. There is a stern warning that God’s judgment will be leveled against those who abuse their power.
Gospel Lk 17:11-19
The story of the Samaritan Leper, found only in St. Luke’s Gospel, reiterates Jesus’ ability to remove sins. Here the Lord cures 10 Lepers, outcasts who are viewed by the community as being under God’s punishment. When only the Samaritan returns to Jesus to thank the Lord for expressing God’s love through healing, Jesus pointedly asks where the Jews who received the same blessing have gone. While the Lord’s response to the praise of the Samaritan; “Your faith has cured you” is heard in other instances (see Luke 7:50; 8:48, 50), the more global message, that Christ came for the world is implicit in the story.
Reflection:
We have recently reflected upon this scripture (See the homily for the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time). While the Wisdom reading and the psalm give it in a slightly different emphasis, the story stands well on its own.
The emphasis is changed with the instruction by Wisdom which is directed at those who have authority over others. In the broader sense that is just about everyone. At some point, most of us have authority over others; parents over children, older siblings over younger, the sales-person over the customer, and even the baby sitter over their charge. At the very bottom of that structure of authority are the poor, the homeless, and the very young. The exhortations of Wisdom are applied to all of us – those with authority must use it with compassion especially, we are told, when it comes to dealing with the poor.
While Wisdom and the Psalms give these instructions in words, Jesus showed us what those words meant with actions. We are given one example today as he encounters the ten lepers. It would have been customary in the Lord’s time to shun those afflicted people who called to him from a distance. They would have been viewed as sinful people of the worst sort, punished by God with a rotting disease that would, in addition to the horrible and disfiguring effects of the illness itself, require them to be outcast. No one could go near them; they must be dependent upon the charity of others for their existence.
The Lord could easily have shunned the lepers as prescribed by the law. But with authority from God comes great responsibility, especially for the powerless. With a word from the Lamb of God, they were made clean. His example to us once more proclaimed in actions.
Today we hear the words of Wisdom and we see the example of Jesus our Lord and mentor. We ask for the wisdom and understanding to see in our environment ways to reach out to those who are powerless and the strength to follow the path the Lord has shown us.
Pax
[1] After Links to Readings Expire
[2] The picture used is Jesus Heals the Ten Lepers, Caspar Luken, 1700
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