Today’s Gospel reading recounts the healing of lepers by the Lord Jesus Christ.
A person afflicted with leprosy was required to leave their home, city, and family. They became an outcast. If a leper encountered a healthy person, they were obligated to cry out loudly, «Unclean! Unclean!» (Leviticus 13:45). This disease was considered incurable and was therefore simply not treated. There were no hospitals or medicine for lepers.

[One literary depictions of this disease have once left a lasting impression on me. I recall reading about a modern leper colony, possibly by Hemingway, where the inhabitants were slowly dying, their bodies decaying, and, in addition to this, they were forced to engage in armed struggles. The details of that story made it exceptionally somber and distressing…]

Leprosy forced those afflicted to leave their homes and face a slow, agonizing death. Often, to survive, lepers would gather into groups. These groups were not formed based on nationality or religion but by the shared burden of their disease. One such group of ten lepers, seeing Christ, stopped at a distance, as noted by the evangelist: «They stood at a distance» (Luke 17:12), because the Law forbade lepers from approaching others. They cried out loudly, «Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!» (Luke 17:13).

The Lord then directed the ten men to go to the priests: «Go, show yourselves to the priests.»
Only after a priest confirmed their healing could a leper be considered cured and allowed to return home. Jesus specifically instructed them to show themselves to «priests,» not «a priest,» because Jews and Samaritans had different priests.

An important detail deserves our attention—all ten, who asked Christ for healing, received His blessing to go to the priests, and they obeyed. This demonstrates their faith in Christ. They trusted His words, did not stay there, nor did they disperse. They went to the priests, revealing the faith and hope they had in Christ to heal them.

Their faith was not in vain: «And as they went, they were cleansed» (Luke 17:14).

However, only one of the ten, when realizing he was healed, returned to Christ to thank Him. This man was a Samaritan (Luke 17:16). The Gospel does not specify what happened to the lives of these ten healed men afterward. However, considering the mutual hostility between Jews and Samaritans, it is reasonable to assume that, having been healed, the nine Jewish men likely ceased all association with the Samaritan who had been their companion for years, perhaps decades, bound by the same terrible disease, and the shared miracle.

As in other Gospel narratives, this story highlights the Jews in a less favorable light, while portraying the Samaritan as a noble and morally superior figure.

Nevertheless, this Gospel story is not primarily about Jews or Samaritans, nor about the miracle or the lepers—it is about gratitude. About the ability to give thanks. Faith, unfortunately, can sometimes exist without gratitude. And we must strive to be not only believers but also grateful to God.

Gratitude is a way of returning to God all that He gives us. In expressing gratitude to God, a person is truly revealed as a personality. Our gratitude does not add anything to God, for He is perfect and unchanging. But the ability to give thanks makes a person spiritually noble. Without gratitude, even with faith, there can be no spiritual growth. Faith without gratitude is incomplete and imperfect.

In life, we all experience different events, both positive and negative. Often, even when we try to understand why something happens, we are unable to do so. Each of us, brothers and sisters, asks questions: Why is this happening? Why to me? Why such trials? Or, on the contrary, why such success? Yet searching for reasons is often futile, and in some cases even harmful, as it leads people to create an alternative reality.

Do not ask: Why am I ill while my neighbor is not? Why does one person prosper while I struggle? Am I worse than them? Are they better than me? Do not seek reasons! Even God’s prophets wondered: «Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power?» (Job 21:7), and «Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?» (Jeremiah 12:1). St. Gregory the Theologian, interpreting these texts, said, «Did they learn anything further? No, not even an answer was given to them.»

What remains for us, then? What should we do?

First and foremost, brothers and sisters, it is not the reason for that, which matters, but how we endure it. Often, the reason cannot be known, but our personal response to the situation depends entirely on us. In illness or hardship, we should not lose our minds searching for reasons but instead focus on how to endure such trials properly and decently.

When sick, remember the brevity of human life: «Man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field, the wind blows over it, and it is gone» (Psalm 103). Illness reminds us to cherish our days and dedicate them to goodness.

When betrayed, remember not to place your trust in people, as Scripture advises: «Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save» (Psalm 146).

When disappointment comes, do not despair but recall the words of the wise: «Meaningless! Meaningless! (Or, hustle!) Everything is meaningless!» (Ecclesiastes 1:2). Let our hope be placed in vain things, but in God, who is our refuge and strength (cf. Psalm 70:5).

Only when we cease futile searches for reasons and view our circumstances as an opportunity to examine our lives, beliefs, and actions, can we learn to thank God.

«Glory to God for everything!» we often hear from the believing people. The holy Apostle Paul also instructs us: «Give thanks in all circumstances» (1 Thessalonians 5:18). If a person, even a believer, has not learned to give thanks, then sooner or later the opposite feeling will awaken in him — a feeling of grumbling (resentment). Such a person becomes dissatisfied with everything, finds no joy, and views others negatively. As one theologian noted, apostasy begins with ingratitude.     Faith is perfect only when completed by gratitude.

These nine healed lepers did not simply fail to thank Christ—they did not return to God. They received healing through His mercy and their faith, but they saw their health as an end (a goal) in itself, not as an opportunity for greater things.

Brothers and sisters, take note: when the Samaritan returned to Christ with words of gratitude, the Lord said to him, «Rise and go; your faith has made you well» (Luke 17:19). What did his faith save him from? He was already healed of leprosy. In all other cases, similar expressions (cf. Matthew 9:22; Mark 5:34; Luke 7:50; etc.) occur before or at the moment of healing. Only here does Christ say these words after being given thanks.

All ten were cleansed of leprosy, but the words of salvation were spoken to only one—the one who thanked Christ. This indicates that the salvation mentioned here is not about physical healing, which had already occurred, but something greater. What is it? Salvation as liberation from the power of sin and the devil, and participation in eternal life, which is Christ Himself: «He is the true God and eternal life» (1 John 5:20).

So, anyone who learns to thank God, the Lord is revealed to him as eternal Life, and grace-filled sanctification and transfiguration are given to such!

Amen!

based on https://kdais.kiev.ua/event/propovid-ru-22-12-2024/