WHERE ARE THE NINE…

Sirach 50:22-24 
22 And now bless the God of all, who in every way does great things; who exalts our days from birth, and deals with us according to his mercy.23 May he give us gladness of heart, and grant that peace may be in our days in Israel, as in the days of old.24 May he entrust to us his mercy! And let him deliver us in our days!

1 Corinthians 1:3-9 
3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.4 I give thanks to God always for you because of the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus,5 that in every way you were enriched in him with all speech and all knowledge–6 even as the testimony to Christ was confirmed among you–7 so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ;8 who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Luke 17:11-19

11 On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee.12 And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance13 and lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.”
14 When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed.15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice;16 and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan.
17 Then said Jesus, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine?18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”19 And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”

MEDITATION

SIRACH THE PROPHET recall the day when Simon the high priest sought to save the people from ruin, which led him to assemble the congregation to seek a blessing of the Most High for restoring and fortifying the temple to save the people from ruin.On this occasion Simon the high priest again invoke a blessing upon the people, which is akin to the Penitential Act whereby they give thanks and sought the grace and mercy of God.

St PAUL inform the Corinth community that he “give thanks to God always,” implying that he faithfully offers the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass so the people may receive every spiritual gift to enable them to be guiltless and in fellowship with Christ. To be sure, the Holy Eucharist can be offered up for the remission of sins of the departed and for those in distant places. 

St LUKE recall the story of ten lepers who reached out and shouted from a distance, indulging Christ to heal them from their lepros condition. Without approaching or touching the men Jesus ordered them to visit the temple priest who would do a medical inspection (Lev 14) to verify if they were healed, upon which the individuals were to present two living birds for the priest to offer a thanksgiving sacrifice. Lev 7:12 

The gospel reading illustrate that Christ had no intention to cancel the priestly order wherefore upon His triumphant exultation of the Holy Cross, He is made present to us “in personi christi” when the priest offer up our gifts in the Holy Eucharistic Celebration of the Mass. 

Christ is visible dissapointed with the nine men for their ingratitude behavior by not presenting and giving thanks to Him for the miracle healing they received. Those of us who received healing and blessings of any kind whilst being absent from Holy Mass, are called to present ourselves to make thanksgiving to God for His healing love, grace and mercy! 

LET US PRAY:Psalms 138:1-3,5

1 A Psalm of David.
I give thee thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing thy praise;2 I bow down toward thy holy temple and give thanks to thy name for thy steadfast love and thy faithfulness; for thou hast exalted above everything thy name and thy word.3 On the day I called, thou didst answer me, my strength of soul thou didst increase.5 and they shall sing of the ways of the LORD, for great is the glory of the LORD.

Commentary. Henry R SYLVESTER Note: The daily scripture readings are taken from the Roman Missal which the Catholic Church use in the daily Celebration of the Holy Eucharist throughout the world.Some weekly readings may differ because of the celebration of local feast days