CHRIST the HEALER: “Were there not ten cleansed?” (Lk 17:17). H.P. Liddon writes: Misfortune makes strange associates, and of these lepers one was a Samaritan. Illness, too, will make men think of God who have never thought of Him before. Conscious of their misery, they stood afar off; and yet—even if nothing came of it—they must appeal to Him. They might have heard that one of the distinctive features of His work was that “the lepers were cleansed.”…and so, as He passed, they lifted up their voices and said: “Jesus, Master! have mercy on us.” This prayer was itself an act of faith: and, as such, our Lord at once accepted and tested it. There they were, all ten, covered with leprosy, but He bade them do that which already implied that they were perfectly cleansed. “Go,” He said, “show yourselves to the priests.” Could they trust Him sufficiently to make the venture? Yes; they took Him at His word. And lo! as they went, a change was already upon them. They were healed!
