Daily Gospel Reflection
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November 13, 2019
On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean.
Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan.
Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”
Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”
I once heard a stirring homily on this passage at Mass in my residence hall. The priest proposed that the nine who kept running toward Jerusalem were completing Jesus’ instructions, not out of pure obedience but because they wanted to do something to merit the miracle. They wanted to justify themselves by accomplishing something difficult. The priest remarked that we often act the same way about the Sacrament of Reconciliation; we want to do acts of penance to make things right.
As a task-oriented, busy person, I am challenged by the call to receive grace from God without earning it. Every time I leave the Sacrament of Reconciliation, I add “penance” to my to-do list, reducing it to the level of doing my laundry or buying my plane tickets for Thanksgiving break.
It is true that we need to act to bring about God’s kingdom on earth. God values our work and lets it bear fruit even if our personal relationship with God is strained. The nine lepers who didn’t take the time to say thank you were still cured. I am still given grace and forgiveness when I leave the reconciliation chapel with a to-do list on my mind. But the better, more humble, and more loving lifestyle involves taking time in prayer to thank and praise God.
How often do we really linger after Mass and pray in thanksgiving for God’s powerful presence in the Eucharist? I know I usually run off toward the world without looking back. But when I only approach God for a cure or miracle, I don’t feel truly “well.” Today I will spend time in prayer, thanking God for healing me and bringing about good in my life, and asking for an increase in faith.
Prayer
Mercy, Lord! We ask for your mercy! How many times have we begged you, O Jesus, for healing, for health, for conversion, for a miracle? Ten lepers were made clean, but only one of the lepers even saw that he was made well. Even though we are often blind to your grace, to your love, to your healing, you shower it upon us still. You rain down abundant love and blessing on even the hardest of hearts. And we are filled with joy and with gratitude because you are good. We prostrate before you, O Christ, and we thank you! Amen.
Saint of the Day
An immigrant herself, St. Frances Xavier Cabrini served thousands of Italian immigrants who came to America at the turn of the century, looking for a better life. She is the first naturalized American citizen to be canonized a saint.
Frances was born in 1850, two months premature, to a very large family in Italy who grew cherry trees. She grew up with a great desire to become a missionary to China, but had chronically fragile health and was not allowed to join a religious order. She began to work as a school teacher in Italy.
By 1880 she had become the headmistress of an orphanage and gathered other women to join her work teaching and raising the children. This community of women formed into a new religious order, the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and dedicated themselves to missionary work.
When the order was approved by the pope in 1887, she asked to be sent to China, but the pope instead sent her to serve the large number of Italian immigrants in the United States. Some 50,000 Italian immigrants were living in New York City, many of them in poverty, so she left Italy in 1889 with six other sisters to begin their work. Thanks to her remarkable trust in God and sharp administrative mind, their order grew and established many schools, orphanages, and hospitals.
Her order served people in New York but soon spread to other parts of the nation, then around the world. In 1907, Frances became a citizen of the United States and she died ten years later in Chicago. She is represented in this panel on Notre Dame's law school building (right).
St. Frances Xavier Cabrini is the patron saint of immigrants and hospital administrators. Here is a prayer inspired by her commitment to recognizing the dignity of immigrants:
Loving God,
You led St. Frances Cabrini around the world.
By her example, teach us concern for the stranger.
By her prayers, help us to see Christ in our immigrant Sisters and brothers
And all who welcome them.
By your guidance and Mother Cabrini’s inspiration may we love boldly and work tirelessly to correct injustice
May civic leaders recognize the dignity of all people and the sanctity of the family
And may our nation and our hearts
Be places of welcome.
We ask this through the intercession of St. Frances Cabrini.
Amen.
Some of Mother Frances' relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on campus, while most of her body is preserved at the Mother Cabrini Shrine in Upper Manhattan. Frances Cabrini's inspiring witness to Christ and image are used by high school students who come to campus for a summer conference with the Notre Dame Vision program.
St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, who cared for the displaced and poor who came to America as immigrants—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini is an illustration by Julie Lonneman, who holds exclusive rights to the further distribution and publication of her art. Used with permission.