Study:  Reflect on a time when you experienced healing.  Who helped you?

Pray:  Pray for the sick, especially those that you know.

Serve:  How can you help be an agent of healing today?  What circumstances or situations can you address to (re)connect others?

Mass Readings – 28th Sunday of the Year

Both Elisha and Jesus heal lepers in the 1st Reading & Gospel today.  Take a moment to note these points about the encounter between Jesus and the 10 lepers in the Gospel of Luke:

1. They are not Jewish, but Samaritans
2. Leprosy kept them isolated from other people
3. After their healing only one returns to say thanks
4. Their physical healing allows them to draw near to others again

Leprosy was (and still is) a horrible disease.  Not only did it cause physical hardship as the body wasted away, but it separated lepers from loved ones in order to prevent them from catching the same sickness.

The encounter with Jesus changes this.  The Lord not only restores their physical health, but at the same time he also returns them to their families and friends.  They have their lives restored in body, heart and soul.

The sense of gratitude expressed by the leper who thanks Jesus touches two key points:  First, he expresses gratitude for what God has done.  Second, he is able to touch Jesus – something that he couldn’t do before because of the disease.  This sense of thankfulness and connection reveals what can happen when we open our hearts to the Lord.

So where do you need healing in your life today?  May we call upon the Lord with grateful hearts, as we seek healing…body & soul.