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(12th October 2025) Homily for the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

READ: (2 Kings 5: 14-17; 2 Tim 2: 8-13; Lk 17: 11-19)

REFLECT: Be thankful to be faithful to God…

Dear friends, we are on the Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The liturgy of the word invites us to be thankful to God. The phrase “Thank you,” is ordinarily used by all of us. It is courteous, gratuitous and above all virtuous. It delights the other and accords dignity to them when said in gratitude for the service and support we received from them. That’s why it is said,” Never forget to say the two little big words “Thank you.” Yes! Thank you is nothing but the recognition and acknowledgement of others’ role in our growth and well-being. It is almost close to being faithful to the other. Therefore, when one says that he or she is thankful it would mean accepting others’ valuable contribution in my life for showing faithfulness. That’s what we find in the readings of today. So based on the readings of the day, I would like to share with you three points of reflection.

1. Acknowledge God and others:

Acknowledging God and others would mean that we are grateful and show our faithfulness. We acknowledge God for various favors received as a sign of our faithfulness; we accept people’s kindness on various occasions as a sign of our faithfulness. This is something noble and praise worthy. This is something similar to the episode we find in the first reading. The first reading from the book of Second Kings speaks of the healing of Naaman, the Syrian. As a token of his gratitude for healing obtained, he believes in the God of Israel and promises to never offer sacrifices to other gods except to the God of Israel. The Naaman, a leper is restored to health and he wholeheartedly acknowledges the man of God who was responsible for the restoration of his health.

In today’s first reading, we are given the few verses of the end of the 5th Chapter but the preceding passages give us a glimpse of Naaman, his personality and character. The preceding verses of the Second Kings 5:1-14 tell us that Naaman is a Gentile, an Armaean, the commander of the army often hostile to Israel. However, we learn that Yahweh blessed Naaman with victories. Naaman is as well presented as a leader who listens to his servants. He is a righteous and just person who obeys the commands of the Prophet Yahweh. Ultimately, Naaman promises to worship God Yahweh.

Further, when we look at the literal meaning of ‘Naaman’, it means fair or gracious or pleasant. His name reveals that he is fair and pleasant, but we learn Naaman was a leper. Although he has been shown as a man of great valor and strength, a fair and just man, he had a dreaded skin disease, which affected his personality and life as well. As Naaman’s servant tells him to go to Elisha for healing, he moves forward for healing. We all learn from the story that Naaman, when he visited Prophet Elisha’s house, he expected a quick response and immediate result of his disease, but towards the end, he humbles himself, expresses his gratitude to her and affirms his faith in God Yahweh. Perhaps, it is an extraordinary affirmation of his faith in God Yahweh from a person who worshiped others gods. Now his life turns anew in faithfulness to Yahweh as he experiences the power and protection from Yahweh.

Today, Namaan the leper stands as a model to all of us to be grateful, reminding us that we need to acknowledge the valuable contribution of God and others in life. We may have many things in life, but if we do not have the spirit of acknowledgment to accept God and others in life for the good things done, we may not experience the fullness of joy and delight. We all blame others at times; we project our own identity before others without an act of humility and submission; we think twice to listen to the suggestions and opinions of others or accept others' role in life. We need to realize that God sends ahead of us angels at times to change or transform our lives to be new and good through various persons we encounter. So let us acknowledge God’s almighty power and providence in our lives and accept others' role in our lives too to live a life faithful to God and others.

2.  Be faithful to God:

Being faithful to God is an act of total surrender. We totally surrender our entire situation into the hands of God and bow before him in adoration and thanksgiving. Even when everything seems hard, we still hold on to God’s helping hand and never abandon him for he is loving, kind and merciful. We need to be faithful to God, because God has always been faithful to us, granting us opportunities and manifesting his mercies at all times. That’s what we see in the second reading from St. Paul’s letter to Second Timothy.

St. Paul writes the verses of the bible to his spiritual son Timothy in order to encourage him to remain faithful to God in the midst of sufferings and pains by preaching the good news of Christ Jesus. That’s why St. Paul is able to address the importance of Christ’s resurrection more than death. It is not the death of Christ but the risen Christ, who has overcome the dungeon of darkness and won for us eternal life. Paul highlights here his own chains or struggles but ascertains that the Word of God is not chained. It speaks of the power of God’s word that in the midst of havoc and atrocities, the word of God has every power to overpower the darkness of sin and empower God’s children. However, we can’t say that Paul’s suffering has no meaning, because St. Paul endured suffering for the salvation of others.

The last three verses of the second reading give us the crux and it is called a hymn of faith too. The three verses have lots of meaning with its significance, culminating, how God remains faithful to us, although we may be or we are faithless. Yes, in dying for Christ we live for Christ; in enduring suffering for Christ’s and his good news’ sake, we participate in the reign of Christ. Although, it is said that if we deny Christ he will deny us, we see the last verse authenticating the faithfulness of Christ, because he cannot deny his own self. We are the reflection of God’s image in and through Christ. Christ remains always faithful to us, regardless of who we are and what we do. But we should not take the love and faithfulness of God for granted. We need to be faithful to God, who is always faithful to us.

Today, what we need to do is to remember Christ at all times; we need to center our lives in Christ; we need to endure the sufferings of life for a purpose; ultimately, whatever might be the struggle, we need to endure them with faith and conviction in God. Such an approach would give meaning to life, although it may not be fair. Most of us have the tendency to brood over a lot for no reason at all; we try to compare our miseries with others; we blame others and the situation for not getting on well with life. I think it is a time to pause and see how Christ endured his life for our goodness. There were many hurdles and humps in the life of Jesus, yet he walked on it joyfully and hopefully, trusting in God’s divine providence. If not all occasions, we need to believe in God and try to trust in God’s divine providence. I am sure situations will change and life will change for the better. For this we need to be faithful to God in following his commands and teachings. The commandment to love God and others, the life of forgiveness, sacrifice and total dedication to God’s service would make us faithful servants of Christ, even if we had to endure sufferings in life.

3. Be thankful to God:

Being thankful to God is one of the deepest ways of entering into a relationship with God. When one says that ‘I am thankful to God,’ we only mean or manifest that we acknowledge God’s goodness and gifts; we recognize God’s presence and action in our lives both in pain and in joy; we trust in God’s plan and his holy will that holds for us; we respond to God with praise of words, worship in spirit and total obedience in action. Once we do the above, at last thanking God becomes a life-style rather than a mere emotional gesture that appears and disappears situationally.

The Gospel reading of the day presents to us the healing of ten lepers where only one person, that too a Samaritan acknowledges God’s healing and comes to thank Jesus for the favor received. The one among ten lepers in the gospel teaches us that we need to remain grateful to God to obtain further favors in order that we complete and complement life’s growth and purposes. Why did only one person come to thank God and the other nine were not? Perhaps, it could be they forgot God’s healing due to over joy; or they would have felt why to go back and thank Jesus as they have received what they wished for; or they simply ignored it; or they may not have even realized the healing. There could be many other reasons or possibilities of their failure for coming and acknowledging God’s mighty work through Jesus. However, we are led to know that the Samaritan comes and acknowledges Jesus for the cure he obtained.

We all know the situation of a leper or the one who is found with leprosy. They are strayed away from the society; they are considered unclean; they are to call out before they could meet or face. There is no value in the life of a leper. It is almost equivalent to seeing them lifeless and valued less with indignity. A Samaritan leper coming back to thank Jesus and acknowledging healing resonates with his identity in the society and is now becoming full of life. A strayed away person without identity in the society due to leprosy now is identified as a Samaritan and all the more his standard of life is raised, because of his gratitude manifested to Jesus for the cure. This grateful leper’s role challenges our lives today to welcome and evangelize those at the margins of the society, offering them relief and reawakening their spirit to live life joyfully. It is a time to empower the weak and feeble rather than overpowering them and suppressing the vulnerable.

Today, we need to crosscheck the graces of God in our lives. True! Innumerable are the graces we have received; innumerable are the gifts that we have obtained. Innumerable are the sins pardoned; innumerable are the sicknesses we have been healed. Innumerable are the joys we have experienced; innumerable are the pains we have been wiped away; innumerable are the chances and opportunities we have been offered. Are we grateful to God for the gift of life and for the gifts in life? I am sure, some of us have received good health, some of us have gained more wealth but we all still keep grumbling and complaining about what we do not have, forgetting that we have received from God more than what we really needed. We don’t acknowledge God’s hand at work in us, through us. Only then we will understand what it means to really receive blessings from God and be a blessing to many. How true are the words of wisdom which someone said, “Gratitude turns what we have into enough”

Let us remind ourselves of the daily conversation we might have had with the little children. When we ask a little child, ‘how are you?’ The child spontaneously responds ‘I am fine, thank you’. Yes! If the little children can say thank you to people who just enquire about their wellbeing, what about us and our relationship with God? God loved us into existence and knows the core of our being. He knows who we are, what we are, where we are, and how we are. God does not only know our well being rather he knows our whole being. How much grateful should we be to the God of life who cares for us and gives us in abundance? Therefore let us understand that thank you is not just a formal word used as a format for formality rather it should be a spontaneous overflow of our faithfulness and gratitude to God. Let us realize that our gratitude lies in acknowledgement; our greatness lies in our gratefulness to God. When we remain grateful to God our greatness stands as a high mountain before God and in the midst of His people.  So today we pray that we remain thankful to God and become faithful servants of God.

RESPOND:

Do we acknowledge God’s mighty hand at work in our life-experiences and activities?

Do we remain faithful to God at all times even in pain and sorrow with endurance for God’s glory?

Do we cultivate the habit of thanking God for all the favors received?

Let us acknowledge God’s grace, be faithful to him and remain grateful to God forever to inherit blessings for eternity. Amen.

God bless us all! Live Jesus!