29/34th Sunday after Pentecost
Colossians 3:4-11; Luke 17:11-19

We read in The Gospel:

"And it came to pass, when He was going to Jerusalem, He was passing between Samaria and Galilee." (Luke 17,11)

Let us pause here for a moment and consider: Galilee was in the very north, Samaria was further south, and Judea was even further south, where we find Jerusalem. And so, in travelling to Jerusalem, the Galileans had to pass either through Samaria, where there was another nation--despised by the Jews-- or to bypass Samaria, making a wide circle, and journey through the Decapolis (region).

In this instance, Jesus was walking along the road on the border between Galilee and Samaria, so there might be both Jews from Galilee and Samaritans along the way. Although the Jews and the Samaritans kept separate and there were a number of prohibitions for the Jews to associate with the Samaritans, because they were, they say, both physically and spiritually unclean, but Jesus Christ, as we know, did not heed those prohibitions. He judged people not by their origin, but by their deeds and actions and in many cases showed the Samaritans to be more morally worthy, as illustrated in the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:29-37), and in the meeting with the Samaritans near the city of Sychar (John 4:4-42).

So it happened that on this road between Samaria and Galilee, Jesus met a group of lepers, and among those ten unfortunates there was at least one Samaritan. That became evident after his recovery.

So, as we can see, there was no longer any division between the lepers, and that those people with a severe contagious disease came together and somehow coexisted with each other. As evidenced from the Gospel story, when Jesus "entered a village, ten men who were weak from leprosy met Him, who were standing at a distance" (lepers were strictly forbidden to come close to healthy people), and they raised their voices and said: "Jesus, Teacher, have mercy on us." (Luke 17:12-13) As a whole group, those lepers asked Jesus for God's mercy, and they all received it: the Lord healed them all by His Word, or rather, by His Grace. And Jesus said to all of them: "Go and show yourself to the priests." (Luke 17,14) This was in keeping with God’s instruction through the prophet Moses that all lepers should appear before the priest, and likewise, after they are healed, they should come before the priest (Leviticus 13:2-59; 14:2-3). Also, upon the occasion of their recovery, a sacrifice and a prayer of gratitude must be offered to God.

We do not know whether all those healed people did what Jesus instructed; we only know that out of all ten healed only one

"returned, and began to praise God with a loud voice.
And he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him.
Now he was a Samaritan..." (Luke 17:15-16).

That man, a Samaritan, felt the need to sincerely thank Jesus, because he had received great mercy from Him. And the Lord, as we can see, was pleased by the gratitude of that man, but at the same time He was saddened by the behaviour of the other nine men who were healed; with bitterness He said and asked: "Weren't ten cleansed, but where are the nine? Why didn't they return to give praise to God, except for this stranger? (Luke 17:17-18)

If it were only a case of human ingratitude, then we might not be sad about it, for it happened a long time ago, when Jesus walked the stony roads of Palestine. But we know, and have been convinced many times that now, in our time, many people demonstrate similar ingratitude.

Many people suffer illness. Now, of course, they are treated by doctors, but doctors and all of us depend on God, because when God bestows His mercy, then medicine will help a person, and so will a word of kindness. For me, an always memorable occasion is the case when four doctors (in Sudbury) affirmed that a woman (Mrs. Gorulia) would not live more than two weeks. Yet, a month later, she came to the church to sing in the choir. And she continued to sing for a couple of years after that. Thus, God's mercy was evident; the Lord healed the woman over whom I had the pleasure of performing the Holy Mysteries of Anointing (Holy Unction), Confession and Communion.

I am convinced that God does a lot of healing for us: some people emerge healthy from serious illnesses, complex operations; yet, it is very rare that anyone bothers to arrange for a prayer of gratitude be brought to God during the liturgy, to offer a prayer of gratitude (Moleben’ of Thanksgiving) to the Lord.

And, yet, people are not unbelievers: many people turn with sincere supplication when they are in pain, when their relatives and friends are experiencing serious illnesses or injuries, or in general when there is some grief in the family. People ask God, beseech Him with tears, but how rarely do they consider it necessary to thank Him for the good deeds! Yet, Our Lord considers it necessary and expects it from us, for He was clearly saddened when only one of the nine came to thank Him, and then (He) asked: "Where are the nine?" (Luke 17,17)

It is necessary for us to also put the question before our conscience - are we not among the nine? Let us try to imitate the tenth Samaritan, to whom the Lord said: "Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well." (Luke 17,19)

Amen.

Very Rev. Fr. Taras Slavchenko

Taras Slavchenko was born on March 8, 1918 in Nikopol, Dnipropetrovsk region in Ukraine. After graduating from school and the Pedagogical College, he entered the language and literature faculty of the Scientific Pedagogical Institute. Having successfully completed it in 1938, he served as a teacher in a secondary school.

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