Daily Catholic Lectio
Wed, 13 November ‘24
XXXII Week in Ordinary Time, Wednesday
Titus 3:1-7. Psalm 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5-6. Luke 17:11-19
Returning Samaritan
‘Returning (to Jesus) makes us whole in our body and spirit.’
In the gospel reading of the day, Jesus heals ten lepers, one of whom, a Samaritan, returns to Jesus to give praise to God.
As per the event, Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem. He crosses the boundaries of Galilee and Samaria. When he enters a village, ten lepers approach him. In Jesus’ time, leprosy-afflicted people were quarantined on the outskirts. They suffered from threefold alienation: alienation from their own body because the disease would render the body disfigured; alienation from families and friends on account of the infectious nature of the disease; and alienation from God because leprosy was considered a punishment for one’s sins or one’s parents’ sins.
The lepers who come towards Jesus plead, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!’ Jesus says to them, ‘Go and show yourselves to the priests.’ It was in the Law of Moses that anyone who is healed of leprosy must be authenticated by the priest to be resettled into the village premises. Jesus’ command implies that they are healed already. The lepers go to the priests. One of them, a Samaritan, returns to Jesus, praising God.
What is the significance of the one Samaritan returning to Jesus?
Is he a literary device that Luke uses to tell us that the Samaritans and the Gentiles do have a place in the kingdom of God? or
The lepers, who were united earlier, got divided after the healing. That the Samaritan was left out of the Jewish group? or
Did the Samaritan think that he had nothing to do with Jerusalem and the priests of the temple? or
Did he think that when we have God in the person of Jesus, why look for a priest elsewhere?
One thing is sure: The Samaritan returns. He returns to Jesus.
Returning is very significant in our lives. Two types of returning are mentioned in the Bible: (a) The younger son type (cf. Lk 15). The younger son in the parable, who squanders the wealth of his father, returns him. His return was possible when he came to his senses. (b) Jesus type. Jesus, at the end of every day, after his travels and mission, returns to his Father in private, in prayer. The first type of returning is one-time, while the second type is recurring. The first type is the result of repentance, while the second type is the result of praise; the first type is self-centred, while the second type is other (God)-centred.
The return of the Samaritan is of the second type.
Martin Heidegger, an existential philosopher, often uses the expression ‘homecoming.’ Homecoming is the foundational experience for Dasein (the human person). Homecoming means ‘returning to our roots,’ ‘reviewing our life’s path,’ and ‘restoring our journey.’ The Samaritan of the miracle story returned to Jesus; on the way, he reviewed his path, and with Jesus, he restored his journey.
How does ‘returning’ happen?
(a) Standing or stalling
A person who stalls alone can return. A person who continues to run can never return unless he stops his course. When others were walking continuously, the Samaritan stalled to look back and to return. A calm heart stalls, while an anxious heart runs.
(b) Knowing where one stands
The Samaritan felt that before being admitted to his people, he must be admitted to God. He realised that his present state of health was possible only because of Jesus. He realised that he had been reborn into life and society.
(c) Traveling in the opposite direction
In this stage, a person must overcome peer pressure. Other lepers might have hindered the Samaritan’s journey by saying, ‘Come, let us obey him; let us go to show ourselves up to priests,’ or ‘Oh, he is a wandering preacher; you would never know where he is.’ The Samaritan leper did not yield to their pressure. He pursued his journey and he found Jesus – again!
Jesus appreciates his return.
“Get up and go on your way; your faith has you well,” says Jesus.
When others were healed only in their bodies, the Samaritan was healed in his spirit as well. This was possible because he walked an extra mile, returning to Jesus.
In the first reading, Paul writes to Titus to exhort everyone to be dedicated to good works. Godliness and good works go hand in hand. The grace of God made the revelation possible in the person of Jesus. Grace which is received must be respected in terms of our good works. Returning to God and making people return to him is a good work.
‘Returning (to Jesus) makes us whole in our body and spirit.’
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The ‘pilgrims of hope’ know that their return to themselves is a return to God. (Jubilee 2025 AD, bite 247).
Yesu Karunanidhi (@ Sower)
Archdiocese of Madurai
Missionary of Mercy
Yesu Karunanidhi 
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