October 8
Beloved families of Good Shepherd,
Peace be with you! The appointed Old Testament and Gospel readings for this Sunday center on the extravagant and boundless healing power of God. In the reading from 2 Kings, the prophet Elisha directs the enemy military leader Naaman, who suffered from the skin disease of leprosy, to wash in the Jordan River seven times. Resistant at first, Naaman eventually follows through with Elisha’s instructions and experiences God’s complete healing. Naaman then says, “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel.” In the Gospel of Luke, ten people with leprosy cry out to Jesus from a distance to ask for healing. Jesus tells them to go show themselves to the priests. All of them get up, start walking, and are healed on the way. One of these ten, a foreigner from the enemy country of Samaria, turns back to thank Jesus. Jesus says to this Samaritan, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”
Like the sower of seeds in the Parable of the Sower who recklessly throws seeds everywhere, God is perpetually lavishing us with his abundant healing grace and love. St. Catherine of Siena, a 14th-century mystic and Doctor of the Church, discovered that God is “pazzo d’amore” with all of us, which translates as “crazy in love”! God is always and outrageously extending his love and healing grace to everyone, irrespective of our nationality, station in life, or worthiness. In the stories of Naaman and the ten with leprosy, we see that a key element of healing for these individuals is their posture of receptivity toward God’s healing and grace. St. Julian of Norwich says, “the way we honor God the most is through unconditional surrender.”
Regular participation in the life of the church helps us develop a posture of receptivity toward God’s healing power and love. As we immerse ourselves and our children in the life, prayers, and sacraments of the church, we practice surrendering our lives to Christ who loves us beyond all measure. Once we surrender to God, like Naaman and the ten, it is God’s great joy to reveal his healing power and restore us to wholeness.
We hope to see you this Sunday!
Many Blessings,
Patty