Readings: Psalm 98; Luke 17:11-19

Am I open to the saving power of God?

What does that mean? I might conjure an idea in my mind of something ‘big and flashy’ with a puff of smoke. The reality of being saved for most people is more mundane, even painful. Today’s responsorial psalm reminds us of God’s saving power. What might that look like in my life?

As others before me have said, one way of understanding salvation consists of being saved from myself – my addictions, my obsessions, my petty jealousies, my selfishness, my ego that must be regularly stroked. It seems to me that if we think about that for a few minutes being saved from myself is hard, it’s challenging. We normally rely on our old ways, old habits. It’s not called a comfort zone for nothing! So, am I serious about doing the work to be the best version of myself?

This brings us to the Gospel. Jesus cures 10 lepers. The one who returns to give thanks is the outsider, the person typecast as the ‘bad guy’. So if I have done some of the hard work of saving myself from my smugness, selfishness and obsessions, do I give thanks to God, knowing that it is all grace, including the journey? Or do I lapse and fall into pride, saying to myself – look at what I have done? 

Better to rely on the wisdom of Paul (2 Cor 12:10) that it is precisely because of my failings that I should rejoice as they are the moments to accept God’s transforming grace into my life.