Profound Ingratitude!

Wednesday, November 12, 2025

Wis 6:1-11; Lk 17:11-19

Today’s Gospel highlights the profound ingratitude of those who were profoundly loved by Jesus. 

In the account of the healing of ten lepers, we find that while the gratitude of the Samaritan offers consolation to Jesus, the ingratitude of the nine others is deeply disappointing to him. Hence, our reflection must show what the nine ungrateful lepers ignored in Jesus and what the Samaritan recognized in him. 

1.Divine Recognition: In those days when bodily diseases were associated with one’s sinful past, the lepers suffered the most painful consequences through social ostracization. When those lepers who were denied social communion appeared before him, unlike others who profiled them as ‘sinners,’ Jesus saw them as children of God and recognized their inherent dignity. Unfortunately, the ungrateful men forget that to be seen by Christ is to be lifted up from shame. 

2. Divine Mercy: The lepers approach Jesus, who then responds with his merciful and compassionate love towards them. We understand that their plea was an act of faith because they saw Jesus as the only one who could help them. Here, we must note that Jesus’ recognition, mercy, and goodwill precede the miracle. By meeting them in their misery and being willing to take them out of it, Jesus reveals the mercy that is only characteristic of God. 

3. Divine Healing: In response to the plea of the lepers, Jesus utters the words that have the power to heal, though they hardly realize it. We must note that Jesus did not send the lepers to the priests to be healed by them but only to have their healing from him validated by them so that the former outcasts would return to full social communion. Unfortunately, upon being healed, the ingrates begin to weigh on Jesus’ command and not the Divine Mercy that Jesus radiated in order to heal them.

4. An Example of Ingratitude: Analysing the attitude of the nine who did not return to thank Jesus, we might conclude that their ingratitude ran far deeper. They ignored Jesus, probably being convinced that ‘Jesus did not do anything more than say, ‘Go show yourselves to the priests.’ They enjoyed Jesus’ gift of healing but ignored the healer and threw away his relationship. Their ingratitude is an example that only their bodies were healed and not their hearts. 

5. A Model of Gratitude: By allowing not only his body but also his heart to be touched by Jesus’ healing, the Samaritan becomes a model for all of us. It is obvious that the disappointed Jesus is consoled by the Samaritan’s presence. Thus, the healed Samaritan shows that gratitude is not a mere word but an act of returning to God. In other words, it is saying thanks to God, by who we have become thanks to God’s healing touch.

Let us pray that, like the Samaritan, we may return to God in gratitude and faith. 

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar