Stand and Turn Back

November 15, Wednesday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time
Daily Readings: Wisdom 6: 1-11; Luke 17: 11-19

In today's world, competition never allows people to stand for a moment. Running has become a part of daily life. Today, the liturgy of words speaks about the importance of the moment of pausing and turning back in life.

In today’s Gospel, ten lepers come to Jesus asking for healing from the greatest suffering of life, i.e., leprosy. Jesus grants them what they want and asks them to meet the priests to get the certificate of healing. Up to this point, everything is fine.

The twist comes when one man comes back to thank them while the nine proceed to the temple. Except for this one, all the others don’t have time to realize what happened to them. The difference is nothing but standing and turning back. The one leper on his rush to the temple paused for a moment and stood. He just took a look at himself and turned back to see his past.  He could realize what happened to him and the cause of the miracle. He rushed back to Jesus.

In our spiritual lives, we come across this question. Does God hear my prayer? Has he ever granted me what I asked for? Why do we ask these questions? We are like the nine men who asked God and continued to move on. We ask God, and we have no time to realize it. We are running from all the worldly pressures.

In our fast-moving lives, let’s stand still for a moment and turn back to see the miracles that have happened in our lives. We can also praise and thank God.

Let’s pause our lives for a moment, stand, and turn back to see God’s hand.