Daily Reading

First Reading

Wisdom 6:1-11

Listen therefore, O kings, and understand;
learn, O judges of the ends of the earth.
Give ear, you that rule over multitudes,
and boast of many nations.
For your dominion was given you from the Lord,
and your sovereignty from the Most High;
he will search out your works and inquire into your plans.
Because as servants of his kingdom you did not rule rightly,
or keep the law,
or walk according to the purpose of God,
he will come upon you terribly and swiftly,
because severe judgment falls on those in high places.
For the lowliest may be pardoned in mercy,
but the mighty will be mightily tested.
For the Lord of all will not stand in awe of anyone,
or show deference to greatness;
because he himself made both small and great,
and he takes thought for all alike.
But a strict inquiry is in store for the mighty.
To you then, O monarchs, my words are directed,
so that you may learn wisdom and not transgress.
For they will be made holy who observe holy things in holiness,
and those who have been taught them will find a defense.
Therefore set your desire on my words;
long for them, and you will be instructed.

Psalm

Psalm 82:3-4, 6-7

Give justice to the weak and the orphan;
    maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute.
Rescue the weak and the needy;
    deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
I say, “You are gods,
    children of the Most High, all of you;
nevertheless, you shall die like mortals,
    and fall like any prince.”

Gospel Reading

Luke 17:11-19

On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, “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 made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”

Reflection

Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus heals ten lepers, saying, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” The lepers who begged for a cure were not simply concerned about their medical condition; they were Israelites in exile from the temple—and hence they were a very apt symbol of the general condition of scattered, exiled, wandering Israel. In curing them, Jesus was, symbolically speaking, gathering the tribes and bringing them back to the worship of the true God.

That’s why he tells the lepers, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” In other words, go back to the temple from which you’ve been away for so long. I propose that the lepers here stand not so much for the socially ostracized but for the ones who have wandered away from right worship, the ones who are no longer able or willing to worship the true God. 

What is so important about worship?  Protestant theologian Paul Tillich said that the key to understanding a person was to uncover his “ultimate concern,” another way of saying, “what he worships.” What do you worship? If it’s not the living God, you’ve wandered into the land of exile. You have become, in fact, unclean.