Holy Angels Anglican Church
The 14th Sunday after Trinity
(September 6, 2026)
St. Luke 17:11-19
“The 10 Lepers”
Given by: The Rev. Fr. Vincent J. Varnas
Today’s Gospel reading is commonly known as the “Cleansing of the 10 Lepers”. It is not only about healing, but also more importantly, about thanksgiving. Lepers were outcasts from society and lived in colonies alone and apart from others with only the wailing and misery of their similarly-afflicted comrades for company. Their only hope was a speedy death.
As Jesus traveled through Samaria and Galilee, He encountered ten lepers along the way. And they asked Him for mercy and by this, they tacitly acknowledged His power to heal them. Thusly cleansed, Jesus tells them to go and show themselves to the priests. Why so? Because then their ostracization under Mosaic Law would be rescinded and they could return to their normal lives in society once again. Joyfully, nine of the ten went off, never to be seen again. But one; just one, returned to give praise, glory and thanksgiving for His mercy. And that one was a Samaritan! (Lk. 17:15-16)
Perhaps that one Samaritan recalled the words of God recorded by the Psalmist: “Offer unto God thanksgiving ... Whoso offereth me thanks and praise, he honoreth me; and to him that ordereth his way aright, will I show the salvation of God” (Ps. 50: 14, 23).
Although God wants our prayers of glory and praise, our prayers of thanksgiving are what are greatest in His sight. For they are given out of love and with humility, just as the one leper, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at Jesus’ feet, offering Him thanksgiving for his healing (Lk. 17:15-16). And Jesus said to that one leper: “Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole” (Lk. 17:19). “Made thee whole”! Were not all ten healed or cleansed? Yes, but only one was made whole: cleansed and healed both physically, and spiritually healed of his sins.
Thanksgiving to God. That is so often overlooked in our prayers. We have been blessed in life. If we were to put down on paper all our sufferings and all of our good fortunes, blessings and gifts, and then weigh them on a balance scale; I do believe that the good would outweigh the bad. Do we give thanks, or merely complain about our troubles?
Here is a joke about a monk in a monastery that I want to relate to you:
There was a man who was fed up with modern society, and decided to become a Monk.
He checked out a number of monasteries and chose one he liked. The only reservation he had with it was he had to take a vow of silence and could only say two words every ten years.
He took the vow and began his first ten years of service without saying a word. At the end of ten long-years he was brought before the abbot of the monastery and was asked what two words he would like to say.
His response was "FOOD BAD" And that was it for another long, long, ten years, until he was once again allowed to say another two words.
After twenty years he was brought before the abbot of the monastery and was asked what two words he would like to say.
His response was "BED HARD" and that was it for another long, long, long, ten years, until he was once again allowed to say another two words.
After thirty years he was brought before the abbot of the monastery and asked what two words he would like to say.
His response was "I QUIT." The abbot answered back "You might as well. You've done nothing but complain since you have been here".
Unlike this monk who “always complained”, we have much to be thankful for, for example, just being conceived and born. How could you ever look forward to and ultimately enjoy eternal life in the Kingdom of God, if you never had been given life at conception in the first place? Then there is the greatest gift of all from God through His Son Jesus, as He totally poured-out Himself on the cross in His unbounded and limitless act of love for us, His children, who had gone astray by sin.
Several years ago, when I often visited inmates at the Clackamas County Jail for a prayer service, as part of the outreach program at St. Michael’s Anglican Church, I said to those who may have felt sorry for themselves because of their deplorable state of affairs: “Although you may not think you have anything for which you are grateful to God, given your incarceration, consider the people outside this jail who are suffering terminal illnesses, are in emotional distress because of broken relationships or those suffering addiction to drugs or to alcohol or just being out in the cold in winter weather without much food or clothing. There is almost always someone worse off than are you.”
God’s gifts to us are evident every day, as most of us have food, shelter and clothing and the presence of all those around us whom we love and who love us. Think of your spouse, your parents, your brothers and sisters and your friends and relatives. What would life be like without them? I know, some will say: “Better!” But, think again!
How often do you make a prayer of thanksgiving to God for all the gifts, blessings and successes that you enjoy every day of your life? From his First Letter to the Thessalonians, St. Paul exhorts: “In everything give thanks: ...” (1 Thess. 5:18).
It has been said and is so true: “But for the grace of God there go I.” No matter how bad off it may seem that we are, there is always someone else who is worse off. And even that worse-off person has something to be thankful for, even if it is only to feel the presence of Christ sharing the sorrow and misery of their condition. Whatever pain or sorrow we might be suffering, we are never alone. Jesus is always with us, feeling our pain and our sorrow and giving us the help, we need.
When things seem hopeless, there always are God’s graces given to us in the Eucharist that will help us in so many and varied ways not only to endure but also to find the light that shines before us guiding us to His Truth. We must have both hope and faith in God’s providential love and His caring for us in times of adversity and in times of joy. And faith is not something that we develop by ourselves. Rather, it is a gift from God by grace. We should be thankful for that, also. Faith does not dispel the darkness, but is a light through the darkness. Thank God for the faith we have in Him that brings us through this tortuous life.
After you receive Holy Communion today, we will all say a prayer of thanksgiving for having received the Body and Blood of Christ and being filled with His “grace and heavenly benediction, and made one body with him, that he may dwell in us, and we in him”. It begins: “Almighty and everliving God, we most heartily thank thee, for that thou dost vouchsafe to feed us who have duly received these holy mysteries, with the spiritual food of the most precious Body and Blood of thy Son and Savior Jesus Christ; and dost assure us thereby of thy favor and goodness toward us; and that we are very members incorporate in the mystical body of thy Son. ...”.
As we become one body with Christ, we are given a taste of the future: our future, in God’s Heavenly Kingdom, for that future is made present in this Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
But for now, when we pray to God by our prayers of petition, always include prayers of thanksgiving; for as
St. Paul tells us: “... in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God” (Phil. 4:6).
And always remember that God loves you with an unbounded and unending love that transcends all of the sorrows and pain of this life.