All the Ends of the Earth: Reflections on the Readings for the Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

2 Kings 5:14-17
Psalm 98
2 Timothy 2:8-13
Luke 17:11-19

God is the God of all creation. While many do not realize this or refuse to accept it, He created everything. C.S. Lewis notes in The Screwtape Letters, God claims ownership of everything as Creator while the devil wants ownership through conquest. Several points in today’s readings relate to God as God of all, a point sometimes overlooked by the Jews of Jesus’ time, although Jesus alludes to this in today’s gospel.

The first reading jumps right into the healing of Naaman, who suffered from leprosy, through the urgings of the prophet Elisha without providing any background as to its significance (read the preceding verses for more background). First of all, Naaman was not a Jew. In fact he was a renowned and successful general of the army of a rival nation (Aram). His wife had a servant girl who had been captured from Israel, and she urged him to seek a prophet from Israel, who could effect his cure from leprosy. He went, taking gold and silver to “pay” for the cure but when Elisha told him to go and wash in the Jordan, which was not what Naaman expected, he refused and started to go back in anger (2 Kings 5:11-12). However, his servants implored him to do what the prophet ordered, “if the prophet told you to do something extraordinary, would you not do it? All the more since he told you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?’” It is here that today’s reading picks up.

Naaman’s cure and his reaction is evidence of God’s appeal beyond the confines of the Israelites. Elisha rejects Naaman’s offer of payment as not in keeping with his role as prophet. After all, it was God who actually cured Naaman. In response, Naaman asks for two muleloads of earth from Judah that he might worship God on God’s soil of the land of Israel.

The responsorial psalm picks up on this theme that the Lord’s salvation is for all those who sincerely seek it. “The Lord has revealed to the nations his saving power.” And, while “He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness toward the house of Israel,” this revelation is for all nations. In other words, the Gentiles are also to receive this message. And so, all nations should praise God, for His salvation is available to all. “Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands: break into song; sing praise.”

The second reading continues some of St. Paul’s advice to Timothy and, by extension, to us. It, too, speaks of salvation. In this case, the reference to “those who are chosen” means not just the Jews for as he says in his letter to the Romans, “Does God belong to Jews alone? Does he not belong to Gentiles, too? Yes, also to Gentiles.” While it was often overlooked by the Jewish leaders, we have seen throughout the Old Testament various references to God including the Gentiles in His plan for salvation.

The key message in this passage is in the latter half, “If we have died with him
we shall also live with him; if we persevere we shall also reign with him. But if we deny him he will deny us. If we are unfaithful he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself.” The reference to dying with Christ is about baptism (see Catechism of the Catholic Church, CCC 1227). Baptism is the initial dying to self and to sin that we undergo and makes available to us all of the rest of salvation (e.g., the sacraments, graces, and gifts of faith). It is “the gateway to life in the Spirit ...” (1213). As Jesus was baptized we are united in His death when we are baptized. In ancient times (and in some churches still today) the normal rite of baptism involved full immersion in the water. When the new Christian rises from the water, that is a rising from the dead, a new birth, the entry into the new life which Jesus told us was necessary. “Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.” (John 3:5)

Note also the call for perseverance. “But he who endures to the end will be saved.” (Mt 24:9-13, also Mk 13:13.) The real critical lesson is at the end when we are warned against denying Christ and His faithfulness, regardless of our unfaithfulness. Sometimes we shy away from acknowledging our faith, especially in the animosity toward God in the modern world. But that isn’t what God wants. Recall in last week’s excerpt from this letter to Timothy, “For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control. So do not be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord.” (2 Timothy 1:7-8). We are called to be bold witnesses for our faith.

Paul also attests to the constancy and faithfulness of God for He remains faithful even when we are not. As the prophet Malachi noted, “For I, the Lord, do not change.” (Malachi 3:6, cf. Isaiah 49:14-15.)

In the gospel reading Jesus performs a healing which also includes someone who was not an Israelite, again showing that God’s salvation is for all. Obviously they had faith in Jesus and God, for as they were going they realized that they were cured. “And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. He was a Samaritan.” Jesus recognized that he was a Samaritan, who were not accepted by the Jews (how Jesus knew we don’t know), and acknowledged the man’s faith. "Ten were cleansed, were they not? ... Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?" Then he said to him, "Stand up and go; your faith has saved you." Earlier in Luke’s gospel Jesus refers to the event described in the first reading, also noting that God’s salvation extends beyond the Jews (Luke 4:25-27).

Like other healings Jesus performed, the main issue to receive this gift is faith. Similarly, when someone is baptized they are asked (or the parents in the case of infants), “What do you ask of God’s Church?” The answer to this is “faith.” Faith opens the door to baptism and subsequently to all the gifts the Church has to offer (CCC 1236-7, 1253).

The Catechism notes, “The faith required for baptism is not a perfect and mature faith, but a beginning that is called to develop.” (CCC 1253) How strong is your faith? What are you doing to strengthen it, to develop it? If you don’t exercise it, it atrophies, just like an athlete’s muscles atrophy if not exercised and strengthened regularly. Strengthen your faith and put on the armor of God, for we are in spiritual warfare (Ephesians 6).