The Ten Lepers & Elements of Thanksgiving

A wonderful surprise happened the day before Thanksgiving when Joe & Linda, Greater Boston Affiliates, former longtime Maryknoll Lay Missioners and friends for many years, sent a YouTube reflection on Thanksgiving.  The first part of the reflection focused on the parable of the 10 lepers (Luke 17).

We all know the story.  On his way to Jerusalem on the border of Galilee and Samaria, ten lepers  shouted out from a distance asking Jesus for healing.  He healed all ten but only one returned to give thanks. Like so many Gospel stories, there is much more to it than we might catch on first read. In this case, there are poignant insights into the nature of Thanksgiving as well as into Jesus himself. 

Here are some that stood out:

Mission in the boundary spaces... Jesus is in the region between Samaria and Galilee - boundary spaces, and is about to cross a social boundary again by his association with lepers and with a Samaritan. Both were outcasts and seen as unclean in the established society. Maryknoll embraces boundary spaces.

Somethings are more important than duty... The one leper who returned to thank Jesus, was a Samaritan. While we don’t know for certain, more than likely the other nine were Jews and, in not returning, were simply doing what duty required, going to Jerusalem to visit the temple.  Often, our sense of duty becomes routine and we cease to recognize when something more important surfaces in a given moment. Taking things for granted hinders thanksgiving.

Isolation is seldom a healthy choice... The biblical story of the leper evokes a kind of existential condition. The leper is slowly dying – the disease can persist for 30 years. The light within is going out. When we feel hopeless, or hurt, or when we feel that our life is falling apart, we risk withdrawing, we disassociate and isolate ourselves. Trust and thanksgiving are the two attitudes that we need to return to health.

Healing is empty without gratitude... Healing will never be complete until we give thanks. It is not surprising that while the nine Jews go to Jerusalem and the Samaritans to Mount Gerizim, their holy place, Luke tells us that in walking with Jesus, we are in the right place to give thanks to God…we don’t need to find another holy place.

We need to be thankful for all, even the difficult things that come our way.... a pastor from North Carolina, was leading worship at a leper colony on the island of Tabango in the Philippines. There was time for one more song, so he asked if anyone had a request. A woman who had been facing away from the pulpit turned around. "It was the most hideous face I had ever seen," the pastor said. "The woman's nose and ears were entirely gone. The disease had destroyed her lips as well. She lifted a fingerless hand in the air and asked, 'Can we sing, Count Your Many Blessings?'"