A reflection for the twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Readings (Year C):

2 Kings 5:14 – 17
Psalm 98:1, 2 – 3, 3 – 4
2 Timothy 2:8 – 13
Luke 17:11 – 19

Reflection: Healing comes through actions of love and advocacy

Today’s readings highlight the miraculous healing of those struggling with the chronic infectious disease of leprosy. We read a variety of healing stories throughout scripture which reveal the divine power of God as well as the courageous faith of those wishing to be healed. Often, those suffering from physical illness are not named in scripture, and today’s gospel is no different. We read: “As he [Jesus] was entering a village, ten lepers met him. They stood at a distance from him and raised their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!”

If we pause and consider what this scene would have looked like from the perspective of an onlooker, it was quite shocking. A group of lepers, outcast and deemed unclean and contagious to the community, rally together to confront Jesus and ask for his healing power to be bestowed upon them. The threat of their illness, the proximity to someone like Jesus, and their collective force would have been jolting and unnerving to many. Yet, how scandalous and how brave this group of people are! Despite their illness, they claim their dignity as children of God and proclaim that they are worthy of wholeness and health.

Now, if we turn to the story in Kings, we can see the same scandal and bravery, but in an unlikely place. Although excluded in today’s verses, the miraculous healing of Naaman could have only happened through the courageous acts of a young Israelite girl who was taken captive and made a servant to Naaman’s wife. In the actual verses we are given today we only read about two men: Naaman, who suffers from leprosy, and Elisha, the man who cures him. However, Naaman would have never been healed without the unnamed Israelite girl who dared to tell her mistress that the God of Israel could heal her husband. Though nameless, she breaks from the silence of her slavery and proclaims that it is one of Israel’s prophets that can bring comfort and relief to Naaman. If we pause again and consider this passage as if we were an onlooker, we can feel the radical nature of her faith and the holy boldness bestowed upon her.

As I reflect on these readings as a disabled person, the power of personal and communal advocacy resonates deeply with my own experience. Though often invisible and tucked away from society, I and many others with chronic illness have to find means of connecting with others and have to become experts in our own conditions. Just as the lepers join together and collectively discern that it is Jesus who can heal them, many of us who suffer today share resources and try to help one another find a path to relief from daily suffering. It is through this suffering that we gain deeper insight into our own dignity and the dignity we deserve from society.

Sometimes, it is others who advocate on our behalf who help to ease our burden. The young Israelite willingly shared her knowledge and resources so that her captor could be saved. She did not conceal the resources of her homeland, but rather desired wellness for others and opened a door that would otherwise have been closed to Naaman.

Our invitation today, whether we find ourselves in health or hard times, is to be with others. Find your own voice and find trusted voices—maybe in your faith community, among your friends and family, or within support groups. Suffering alone and in silence is dangerous and not what our scriptures reveal to us. God invites into relationship with others so that God’s own divine love can be made known to us.

Together, as disciples to one another, healing is made known to us the action of love, which is undoubtedly a type of advocacy. Some may find physical healing of bodily ailments, but even one does not, this love offers us a glimpse into the glory of healing that is to come!