CCC Cross Reference:
Ti 3:5 1215; Ti 3:6-7 1817
Ps 23:5 1293
Lk 17:14 586; Lk 17:19-31 2463
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Reading 1
Ti 3:1-7
Beloved: Remind them to be under the control of magistrates and authorities,
to be obedient, to be open to every good enterprise.
They are to slander no one, to be peaceable, considerate,
exercising all graciousness toward everyone.
For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, deluded,
slaves to various desires and pleasures,
living in malice and envy,
hateful ourselves and hating one another.
But when the kindness and generous love
of God our savior appeared,
not because of any righteous deeds we had done
but because of his mercy,
he saved us through the bath of rebirth
and renewal by the Holy Spirit,
whom he richly poured out on us
through Jesus Christ our savior,
so that we might be justified by his grace
and become heirs in hope of eternal life.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 23:1b-3a, 3bc-4, 5, 6
R. (1) The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
In verdant pastures he gives me repose;
Beside restful waters he leads me;
he refreshes my soul.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
He guides me in right paths
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk in the dark valley
I fear no evil; for you are at my side
With your rod and your staff
that give me courage.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
You spread the table before me
in the sight of my foes;
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
Only goodness and kindness follow me
all the days of my life;
And I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
for years to come.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
Gospel
Lk 17:11-19
As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem,
he traveled through Samaria and Galilee.
As he was entering a village, ten lepers met him.
They stood at a distance from him and raised their voice, saying,
“Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!”
And when he saw them, he said,
“Go show yourselves to the priests.”
As they were going they were cleansed.
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 said in reply,
“Ten were cleansed, were they not?
Where are the other nine?
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.”
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
First reading Titus 3:1-7
Remind your people that it is their duty to be obedient to the officials and representatives of the government; to be ready to do good at every opportunity; not to go slandering other people or picking quarrels, but to be courteous and always polite to all kinds of people. Remember, there was a time when we too were ignorant, disobedient and misled and enslaved by different passions and luxuries; we lived then in wickedness and ill-will, hating each other and hateful ourselves.
But when the kindness and love of God our savior for mankind were revealed, it was not because he was concerned with any righteous actions we might have done ourselves; it was for no reason except his own compassion that he saved us, by means of the cleansing water of rebirth and by renewing us with the Holy Spirit which he has so generously poured over us through Jesus Christ our savior. He did this so that we should be justified by his grace, to become heirs looking forward to inheriting eternal life.
Psalm: Psalm 22:1-6
The Lord is my shepherd: there is nothing I shall want.
The Lord is my shepherd;
there is nothing I shall want.
Fresh and green are the pastures
where he gives me repose.
Near restful waters he leads me,
to revive my drooping spirit.
The Lord is my shepherd: there is nothing I shall want.
He guides me along the right path;
he is true to his name.
If I should walk in the valley of darkness
no evil would I fear.
You are there with your crook and your staff;
with these you give me comfort.
The Lord is my shepherd: there is nothing I shall want.
You have prepared a banquet for me
in the sight of my foes.
My head you have anointed with oil;
my cup is overflowing.
The Lord is my shepherd: there is nothing I shall want.
Surely goodness and kindness shall follow me
all the days of my life.
In the Lord’s own house shall I dwell
for ever and ever.
The Lord is my shepherd: there is nothing I shall want.
Gospel Luke 17:11-19
On the way to Jerusalem Jesus travelled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered one of the villages, ten lepers came to meet him. They stood some way off and called to him, ‘Jesus! Master! Take pity on us.’ When he saw them he said, ‘Go and show yourselves to the priests.’ Now as they were going away they were cleansed. Finding himself cured, one of them turned back praising God at the top of his voice and threw himself at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. The man was a Samaritan. This made Jesus say, ‘Were not all ten made clean? The other nine, where are they? It seems that no one has come back to give praise to God, except this foreigner.’ And he said to the man, ‘Stand up and go on your way. Your faith has saved you.’
Readings and Commentary from the Navarre Bible
Wednesday of the 32nd Week in Ordinary Time
From: Titus 3:1-7
Respect for Lawful Authority
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[1] Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for any honest work, [2] to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all men.
Renewal of the Christian Life in the Holy Spirit
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[3] For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by men and hating one another; [4] but when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, [5] he saved us, not because of deeds done by us in righteousness, but in virtue of his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit, [6] which he poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, [7] so that we might be justified by his grace and become heirs in hope of eternal life.
Commentary:
1-8. In the last part of the epistle St Paul deals with the way believers conduct themselves in society at large (vv. 1-8); he warns Titus to see that the Church does not become a place where people argue (vv. 9-11); and finally he gives him some little personal commissions and messages (vv. 12-14) and ends with the usual words of farewell (v. 15).
The scheme of the first section (vv. 1-8), like the previous chapter, is as follows: first he describes the requirements of Christian living, specifically the attitude towards civil authority and one's fellow-citizens (vv. 1-2); then he gives the theological reasoning behind it (vv. 3-8): for a Christian, moral behavior is a consequence of faith.
1-2. Respect for lawful authority (cf. Roman 13:1-7; Tim 2:2; 1 Pet 2: 13-14) was particularly difficult and meritorious in the situation in Crete, where the local population (many of them Jews) were not at all happy with their Roman overlords. However, the freedom of the children of God (cf. Rom 8:21) which the Christian acquires at Baptism does not mean he has to be opposed to existing structures: the main thing it leads him to is personal improvement: "The acute need for radical reforms of the structures which conceal poverty and which are themselves forms of violence, should not let us lose sight of the fact that the source of injustice is in the hearts of men. Therefore it is only by making an appeal to the moral potential of the person and to the constant need for inner conversion, that social change will be brought about which will truly be in the service of man. For it will only be in the measure that they collaborate freely in these necessary changes through their own initiative and solidarity, that people, awakened to a sense of their responsibility, will grow in humanity" (SCDF, "Libertatis Nuntius", 11, 8).
Gentleness and courtesy are expressions of the new commandment of love; they show that a person is spiritually mature, and they are very effective in drawing souls closer to Christ. "To criticize, to destroy, is not difficult; any unskilled laborer knows how to drive his pick into the noble and finely-hewn stone of a cathedral. To construct: that is what requires the skill of a master" (St. J. Escriva, "The Way", 456).
3-7. The main subject of the chapter is the theological basis of social obligations (vv. 1-2); every Christian should bear witness to salvation history, to the change from sin to grace, and the change from an era of slavery and error to the era of freedom and rebirth ushered in by Christ.
The "old regime" is sketched out in a very vivid way (v. 3), showing the effects of sin on man in his three dimensions: in relation to himself, sin makes a person foolish, rebellious, wayward, a slave; in respect of God, he becomes hateful in his rebellious pride; and as far as others are concerned he becomes their enemy -- "hating one another".
However, the coming of Christ has opened up a new panorama (vv. 4-7). As elsewhere in these letters (cf. 1 Tim 3:15; Tit 2:11-14), we have here a hymn to Christ which may well have come from primitive Christian liturgy or from a confession of faith. It summarizes Christian teaching on the Incarnation, the Redemption and the application of salvation to the individual.
According to this text, the Incarnation is the revelation of God our Savior, who makes known his goodness ("benignity", a word which often occurs in the Old Testament and sometimes in the New: cf. Rom 2:4; 11: 22; Gal 5:22; Eph 2:7) and "loving goodness" (literally "philanthropy", a word taken from Greek). The Redemption is referred to in Old Testament language: "he saved us in virtue of his own mercy."
Finally, the Christian's access to salvation is something gratuitous: without any prior merit on our part, God's mercy has sought us out (v. 5; cf. note on Rom 3: 27-31); Baptism is the door to salvation, for it is the sacrament of "regeneration and renewal" (cf. Eph 5:26); the Holy Spirit sent by Christ (cf. Jn 14:26) makes the waters of Baptism effective; his grace gives life to the soul and entitles it to eternal life (cf. Gal 4:7; Rom 8:16-17). The Council of Trent specified that "justification is not only the remission of sins, but sanctification and renovation of the interior man through the voluntary reception of grace and gifts whereby a man becomes just instead of unjust and a friend instead of an enemy, that he may be an heir in the hope of life everlasting" ("De Iustificatione", chap. 7).
The magnificent resume of faith in Christ contained in Titus 3:3-7 also helps Christians see how to approach their work and social involvement; the Second Vatican Council has reminded us once again that "the promised and hoped-for restoration has already begun in Christ. It is carried forward in the sending of the Holy Spirit and through him continues in the Church in which, through our faith, we learn the meaning of our earthly life, while we bring to term, with hope of future good, the task allotted to us in the world by the Father, and so work out our salvation" ("Lumen Gentium", 48).
From: Luke 17:11-19
The Ten Lepers
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[11] On the way to Jerusalem He (Jesus) was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. [12] And as He entered the village, He was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance [13] 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."
Commentary:
11-19. The setting of this episode explains how a Samaritan could be in the company of Jews. There was no love lost between Jews and Samaritans (cf. John 4: 9), but shared pain, in the case of these lepers, overcame racial antipathy.
The Law of Moses laid down, to prevent the spread of the disease, that lepers should live away from other people and should let it be known that they were suffering from this disease (cf. Leviticus 13:45-46). This explains why they did not come right up to Jesus and His group, but instead begged His help by shouting from a distance. Before curing them our Lord orders them to go to the priests to have their cure certified (cf. Leviticus 14:2ff), and to perform the rites laid down. The lepers' obedience is a sign of faith in Jesus' words. And, in fact, soon after setting out they are cleansed.
However, only one of them, the Samaritan, who returns praising God and showing his gratitude for the miracle, is given a much greater gift than the cure of leprosy. Jesus says as much: "Your faith has made you well" (verse 19) and praises the man's gratefulness. The Gospel records this event to teach us the value of gratefulness: "Get used to lifting your heart to God, in acts of thanksgiving, many times a day. Because He gives you this and that. Because you have been despised. Because you haven't what you need or because you have.
"Because He made His Mother so beautiful, His Mother who is also your Mother. Because He created the sun and the moon and this animal and that plant. Because He made that man eloquent and you He left tongue-tied ....
"Thank Him for everything, because everything is good" (St. J. Escriva, "The Way", 268).
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.
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