28th Sunday Year C 2025

"Stand up and go; your faith has saved you." (Luke 17:19)

The healing of leprosy stands at the heart of our readings this week, revealing both the mercy of God and the transforming power of gratitude.

Naaman, a proud warrior afflicted with leprosy, humbles himself to follow Elisha’s simple instruction to wash seven times in the Jordan. His flesh is restored, but more importantly, his heart is renewed. He returns to thank the prophet, declaring, “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel.” His healing brings faith and gratitude together — the physical restoration becomes a doorway to spiritual awakening. True healing is never only about the body; it often stirs within us the capacity to praise, to confess, and to commit ourselves anew to God.

In Luke, ten lepers cry out to Jesus and are healed. Yet only one, a Samaritan, turns back to glorify God and thank Jesus. Jesus asks, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?” and to the one who returned Jesus says, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.” All ten received mercy, but only one entered into the fullness of relationship that gratitude opens. Healing, when met with thankfulness, becomes communion. Gratitude transforms grace into faith alive and personal.

Meanwhile St Paul writes that “if we endure, we will also reign with him,” reminding us that God’s faithfulness holds steady even when ours falters. There is deep healing in that truth: the assurance that divine love does not depend on our strength but on God’s unchanging nature.

St John Henry Newman helps us see this mystery more deeply. He writes, “If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him … He does nothing in vain” (The Mission of My Life). Even when healing is delayed or incomplete, God’s purpose is at work, drawing us closer to our Creator.

In his sermon Remembrance of Past Mercies, Newman calls us to a “spirit of humble thankfulness for past mercies.” Gratitude, he teaches, is not a feeling but a discipline — a way of seeing that keeps the heart open to new grace.

And in his poem A Thanksgiving, Newman describes life’s trials as “sweet love-tokens,” revealing that even adversity can carry God’s healing touch.

Taken together, these readings and reflections show that healing is not simply the end of suffering but an invitation into transformation. When we receive help — through others, through prayer, or through God’s quiet grace — we are called to return, to remember, and to give thanks. Gratitude roots us in faith and opens our eyes to the God who, in all things, longs to make us whole.

By Fr. Thomas O'Brien a.a.