Hearing The Word

A weekly newsletter delivering context and insight into the Sunday Gospels.

October 12, 2025

Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Luke 17:5-10

As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem,

he traveled through Samaria and Galilee.

As he was entering a village, ten lepers met him.

They stood at a distance from him and raised their voices, saying,

"Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!"

And when he saw them, he said,

"Go show yourselves to the priests."

As they were going they were cleansed.

And one of them, realizing he had been healed,

returned, glorifying God in a loud voice;

and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him.

He was a Samaritan.

Jesus said in reply,

"Ten were cleansed, were they not?

Where are the other nine?

Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?"

Then he said to him, "Stand up and go;

your faith has saved you."

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Eyes to See

~ Kelly Anderson, S.S.L., Ph.D

Associate Professor of Biblical Studies for the Major Seminary, Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary + Ambler, Pa.

The Samaritan in the Gospel is an outcast for two reasons: first, he is a leper, and by Torah prescriptions he must be separated from the community (Lev 13:45-46), and second, he is a Samaritan, called an allogenes by Jesus, a word meaning something like “other genes,” or “other roots,” usually translated as “foreigner.” But the Samaritan is allowed to be part of the Jewish lepers who cry out to Jesus, begging him for mercy. And Jesus doesn’t say yes or no to their request, but instead, perhaps testing them, commands them to go to the priests who would determine whether the leprosy was healed and they could return to the community (Lev 13-14). And here, the Samaritan would be in a quandary, for his priests are not in Jerusalem, but at Mt. Gerizim where the Samaritans worship.

But as he was going, he sees (ἰδὼν) that he has been healed, returns to Jesus, glorifies God in a loud voice, falls at Jesus’ feet, and gives thanks. But what exactly does he see? His actions mirror those of the shepherds who see the angelic host, and then return, glorifying God (Luke 2:20) and the centurion under the cross who sees how Jesus breathes his last and glorifies God (23:47; cf. 18:43). Each of these recognize the power of God flowing from Jesus Christ, and they glorify God, for God is made manifest in Jesus. So, the Samaritan does not just see that he has been healed, but sees that his cleansing and healing come from Jesus Christ.

When the Samaritan recognizes that Jesus is greater than any priest, and he separates himself from both his Samaritan and leper community, and falls as Jesus’ feet and gives thanks (εὐχαριστῶν), that is, he worships Jesus as God. And Jesus gives him another, greater gift: because he has eyes to see, he is also now saved. The outcast has found his place: in the heart of Jesus who healed and saved him.

Would I Have Thanked Him? The Entitlement of Comfortable Faith

~Jennifer Dusza

Saint Mary Church + Schwenksville, Pa.



Clearly entitlement isn’t a 21^st Century problem. It’s funny how I think the people who lived and walked with Jesus Christ in A.D. 30 must have had it so much easier trusting and following Him than we do now. Surely, if God talked to me and physically healed me and blessed me abundantly, I’d fall at His feet and my life would forever be changed, right?

The scripture paints a different picture. God led the Israelites in the desert by the pillar of cloud during the day and fire at night and He fed them manna and quail for 40 years and they complained. In the New Testament, He physically healed 10 lepers- people who were completely ostracized from the community. Jesus restored not only their health, but their social standing, their ability to live in town, to eat with their families, to have jobs and make a livelihood. And yet only ONE came to thank Him? How could they be so blind?

Pridefully, I read the Bible and think, “Wow! I would never do that!” That is as I sit in my warm house, paid for with the money I earn from my job that I can get to with the car in the driveway, sipping a warm cup of coffee with a full belly from breakfast, while listening to my kids play with their toys in the other room and my healthy, loving husband watching TV.

If I’ve learned anything, it’s that we’ve learned nothing through the centuries. I have a handy little guide book called the Bible, and yet I make the same mistakes that my predecessors have made. Lord, please forgive me for my slowness. Please forgive me for my pride. Please forgive me for not coming back to thank you again, and again, and again.

And so today, I choose to come back. I choose to be the one who says, “Thank You.” Thank You, Lord, for breath in my lungs, for the people I love, and for Your patience with me. Help me to live a life marked not by entitlement—but by gratitude.