Grace and faith that bring life

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today present a plan of civil obedience and grace filled exemplary living that stands in tension with our need for mercy and healing of the contagions that separate us from others.

A message of gratitude

The Pastoral Letter to Titus urges an improved attitude toward civil authority as fruit of our Baptism.

* [3:1–8] The list of Christian duties continues from Ti 2:9–10, undergirded again as in Ti 2:11–13 by appeal to what God in Christ has done (Ti 2:4–7; cf. Ti 2:11–14). The spiritual renewal of the Cretans, signified in God’s merciful gift of baptism (Ti 3:4–7), should be reflected in their improved attitude toward civil authority and in their Christian relationship with all (Ti 3:1–3).

In the Gospel of Luke, a Samaritan expresses gratitude to Jesus after His saving mercy has healed the leprosy of the foreigner.

* [17:11–19] This incident recounting the thankfulness of the cleansed Samaritan leper is narrated only in Luke’s gospel and provides an instance of Jesus holding up a non-Jew (Lk 17:18) as an example to his Jewish contemporaries (cf. Lk 10:33 where a similar purpose is achieved in the story of the good Samaritan). Moreover, it is the faith in Jesus manifested by the foreigner that has brought him salvation (Lk 17:19; cf. the similar relationship between faith and salvation in Lk 7:50; 8:48, 50).

Charity Oliver connects Psalm 23 to an attitude of gratitude.

Chas Kestermeier, S.J. comments that the Gospel passage, brings out the Samaritan's very personal reaction as primary: he was indeed obeying Jesus and saw his healing, but the urge to give thanks and praise overcame all other imperatives for him.

Jesus heals all the lepers, not making them into angels but allowing them to be renewed and refreshed, ready to live normal lives, to seek and serve God once again.  When Jesus heals us, do we return to give thanks and praise even though we have not yet seen the end of our healing? Do we appreciate and use that new life with as much fidelity as we can?

Don Schwager explores gratitude and ingratitude by addressing the question: “Why did only one leper out of ten return to show gratitude?”

Gratefulness, a word which expresses gratitude of heart and a thankful disposition, is related to grace -which means the release of loveliness. Gratitude is the homage of the heart which responds with graciousness in expressing an act of thanksgiving. The Samaritan approached Jesus reverently and gave praise to God.

The Word Among Us Meditation on Titus 3:1-7 observes there is so much here that explains God’s eternal love and his plan for us that we might miss if we read it too quickly. So let’s try reading it “backwards” from verse 7 to the line speaking of the Spirit.

Speaking of the Spirit, the next line tells us that God has “richly poured” him out on us (Titus 3:6). Our generous Father is always offering us a share in his life. He wants nothing more than to fill us with his divine life, which only his Spirit can provide.

Friar Jude Winkler comments on the directive to Titus to live an ordered lifestyle and be obedient as good Christians. Luke, with Stocic respect for ancient traditions, shows how Jesus followed Jewish Law. Friar Jude notes the hero is a Samaritan. This zinger is to remind us to treat people with respect noting the foreign individual is saved and others are healed.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments how we begin the process of individuation, which includes at least four major splits. These are ways of forgetting our inherent oneness and creating an illusion of separation. Kathleen Dowling Singh observed that the Path of Return involves the healing of previously created dualities [or splits]—in reverse order.

The first split is very understandable. We split ourselves from other selves... The second split divides life from death. It comes when we first experience the death of someone we know… The third split separates mind from body and soul... our thinking that largely defines us. This is the lie that meditation helps us unravel… The fourth split is the acceptable self from the unacceptable self. We split from our shadow self and pretend to be our idealized self, or what others say we should be.

The attitude of followers of Christ is developed out of deep gratitude. In our experience of grace and faith is the seed that becomes the verdant pasture where we can dwell in the house of the Lord.

References

(n.d.). Titus chapter 3 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved November 14, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/titus/3
(n.d.). Luke chapter 17 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved November 14, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/17
(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections .... Retrieved November 14, 2018, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved November 14, 2018, from https://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
(n.d.). Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, Virgin (Memorial) - Mass Readings and .... Retrieved November 14, 2018, from https://wau.org/meditations/
(n.d.). Daily Meditations Archives - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved November 14, 2018, from https://cac.org/category/daily-meditations/