Homily for Sunday of the 28th Week in Ordinary Time

For daily readings, see http://www.usccb.org/nab/101407.shtml

The interesting thing about the healing of Naaman the leper is that he was not an Israelite. The miracle worked through the prophet Elisha led to the conversion of Naaman. Before the miracle, Naaman was not a man of faith, at least not in the God of Israel. Afterwards, Naaman loaded up two mule-loads of earth from the land of the Israelites, as a reminder that he was now a person of faith, and would worship no god except the God of Israel for as long as he should live, as a means of giving thanks for his healing.
The presence of miracles, however, does not always elicit faith, and so today’s readings are more about thanksgiving than about conversion. Because the healing of Naaman was so unexpected, what is highlighted through the healing was the extreme gratefulness showed by Naaman. Naaman did not believe that he was entitled to a healing; in fact, even though he had the faith to plunge seven times in the Jordan, he was doing so mostly because nothing else had worked. His plunging into the Jordan was more of a desperate last resort, than it was an act of faith. But the result is this; because Naaman did not think he was entitled to a healing because of his faith in the God of Israel, he is doubly thankful once the healing is surprisingly given. Ditto for today’s Gospel. Only the foreigner, the one who supposedly had the least amount of faith in Jesus, an Israelite, returned to give thanks to God.
Now probably all of us who have come to Mass this morning will offer some prayers to God for healing, either for ourselves or for someone we know or love or have promised to pray for. We bring so many prayers to this altar today – prayers for healing in mind, body or spirit. We present our prayers in confidence because we know that Jesus hears us and does what is best for us. Hasn’t Jesus taught us that whoever asks, receives, whoever seeks finds, and whoever knocks, the door will be opened? Doesn’t he say that since we who are evil know how to give good gifts to one another, how much more will our Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to anyone who asks him? Doesn’t Jesus tell us in the context of the Eucharist that He always gives to us everything that He has received from His Heavenly Father? Do we not profess the reality of the healing we receive at the Eucharist when we say to the Lord that we are not worthy to receive Him, but only say the word and we shall be healed? In all this, we profess the healing that is present to us in this Eucharist, for whoever eats this bread and drinks this blood will never die.
We know that the prayers we offer today are heard and answered, and yet there are times when we leave the holy Eucharist feeling like we have received less than Naaman the leper. And this is where today’s theme of gratitude comes in. It is true that I can be jealous of the healing received by Naaman today, because I believe my faith to be stronger than his, because I have prayed for many cups of suffering to pass me by and they have not passed me by, because I have prayed for many people to get well while still on this earth and they have not gotten well. Even though I have been healed of all of my sins through the blood of Jesus, even though I am healed by having a chance to eat the bread of life, to be physically joined to my Lord who lives forever through the miracle of the Eucharist, I can find myself jealous of Naaman, who was healed from his leprosy for a time that he might come to faith, but who had to face death again. I who have received a miracle a thousand times greater than anything received by Naaman can find myself jealous that he seems to have won the lottery, and I have not, even though I am more deserving. This, my friends, is the epitome of the lack of gratitude that is challenged by today’s Gospel.
During my third year of seminary I remember my spiritual director telling me that the main problem in my vocational discernment was my lack of gratitude. Even though I was getting closer and closer through the power Christ gave to his Church to be able to forgive sins and to consecrate the Eucharist, I would often find myself not excited for this, but full of resentment and self-pity at what I had to leave behind in order to answer this call to be a priest. It was silly, really – to be able to forgive sins one time, or to celebrate the Eucharist one time, was worth the sacrifice of my entire life, since my faith was sure that these sacraments bring the healing that lasts unto eternity. And yet I had a hard time saying thank you to God for these gifts, until my spiritual director pointed this out to me.
The word Eucharist means thanksgiving. If nothing else this weekend, may we grow in thankfulness for the miracles that are present here through the paschal mystery of Jesus Christ. No, we may not win the lottery like Naaman and the ten lepers who were healed by Jesus, but we and those we love will indeed be healed, not in this world only, but forever through the mystery of the Eucharist present here. For whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood will never die, but will live forever.