Welcome to the Catholic Influencers Podcast where we go deeper into Sunday's gospel reading to help you influence the world for Jesus. I'm Danny Sullivan,
and I'm Fr Rob Galea , and this podcast is presented to you by FRG ministry.
Good morning. Good evening. Good afternoon. Wherever you are. Welcome back to this Podcast. Danii is here settling down, putting her headphones on. And , I've already started the podcast.
I think you pressed record before I was even in my seat. That's okay . I'm prepared now. I've adjusted the microphone. I'm ready. Let's go. Go Danny, go Danny, go, go, go. Danny. Danny. Okay. That's our office theme song. We change it up for whoever needs motivation maybe. I can imagine you dancing to the motivational beat .
I could not , I could not dance to that, but Amber and I, so sometimes one of our staff here who, she's a very talented designer, webmaster, she's amazing and she works on Tuesday. She comes into the office and sometimes we, if Janine is not here or she ducks out, me and Amber have dance partys where we , we just have like one Taylor Swift song. Wait, just hold on the context. Okay, cause these are like the two most introverted persons you could ever imagine .
Just imagine them having a dance party. Okay awkward alert. If somebody is walking into the office Amber and I, the first people to like put our headphones on and pretend we're like really working so hard. We can't possibly have small talk. But yeah, as soon as everyone leaves the office, Amber and I are like is it Taylor Swift time. And then we put on a Taylor Swift song and dance and I don't know, I think she'll be okay with me saying this because we can't actually see it.
But Amber has a signature dance move, which is amazing. And if anyone, well it's hard to describe. It's very subtle and it's called the squirrel dance. Yeah. So it's kind of dancing to look like a squirrel. It's amazing. And that's probably the only thing I danced to, Really. Taylor Swift. I am glad. I am glad I'm not in the office. But only on Tuesday mornings . Who would you dance to?
Well, I don't dance. Honestly, I've tried to dance alone. You know, when you're alone, there's dancing. But then I catch a glimpse at myself in the mirror and I stop immediately. Like even in my own eyes I have, I'm so awkward and stiff in my movements.
Gotta Dance like no one's watching. Yeah, I do dance that nobody's watching. But then I see myself and then I stop.
Oh, I do love a good dance party in my house. I dance a lot kind of like, especially when I'm cleaning cause a cleaning isn't a fun activity. So I make it fun by dancing.
I sing a lot. I sing, when I'm home I sing really out loud and I think I imagined the other priests hearing me singing in the background and sometimes really loud and passionately. I don't try. So I possibly could be out of tune then. But I think it's just, especially when I'm praying, Oh my gosh, when I'm praying I pace very often. I just walk, I pace all the time. We have like an inside joke in the office and we're like, oh father Rob is here.
Like, we don't actually need the chairs cause he's just walking up and down the whole time... I pace, but that's the way my mind works. I pace and I think. If I sit down I get restless. Although sometimes I sit down. We'll make a mobile podcast desk so you can just walk around. My mind is moving here. So my mind is pacing in this case, today's gospel reading. We're going to read from Luke chapter 17 verses 11 to 19.
And I think, again, this is a story that we all know, u m, but let's try and see if there are some hidden treasures in this, in this gospel reading maybe that we haven't thought of before. Hasn't been pointed out to us before. So there you go. And let's take it away. Danny.
On the way to Jerusalem, he was passing along between Sumeria and Galilee as he entered a village. She was met by 10 lepers who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices and said, Jesus, master have mercy on us. When he saw them, he said to them, go and show yourselves to the priests. And as they went there, they were cleansed. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back praising God with a loud voice and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet. Giving him thanks.
Now he was a Samaritan. Then said, Jesus, were not 10 cleansed where are the nine? Was no one found returning. Give praise to God except this foreigner. And he said to him, rise and go your way. Your faith has made you well.
And this is a story from desperation, absolute desperation to hope, and we need to understand as well context of the sickness, context of the desperation of this encounter with the lepers. And I know that you probably would have heard this, but to be a leper was nothing like what we could understand today to be a leper was the worst of the worst of the worst. Because first of all, leprosy wasn't just the sickness, leprosy. It could have been any skin disease.
Even if you came up with boils or if you've got eczema or something like that, all of a sudden you became this outcast and you were pushed out by your family. You were pushed out by people, by the community, and all of a sudden you're by yourself in this desert. And this is where Jesus was. He was between Galilee and Sumeria and he was in the middle of nowhere, woop woop. We'd say in Australia, woop woop means nowhere.
Yeah, so he just stood in this place and all of a sudden he encounters these guys who probably have heard of him. Maybe someone was newly , isolated and they had heard of Jesus. They had seen Jesus, and all of a sudden these guys can run towards him. And some of them were Samaritan , some of them were Jews. We know at least there was one Samaritan. And we know also that the Samaritans didn't speak to the Jews. They just wouldn't talk to one another.
Yeah. So it was understood that, you know, Jewish people and Samaritans didn't co-exist as friends. They didn't talk to each other. And that was quite radical. That Jesus, it wasn't, this isn't the first time he's encountered as Samaritan or spoke about Samaritans. He, you know, in Canada, a woman at the well or there was the good Samaritan in the story, the parable, these hold. It's something that he really is trying to show his apostles and show the Jewish people that he is there for everyone.
And Samaritans aren't excluded because there's Samaritans.
Yes. And again, coming back to the things we've been bringing out over the last few weeks is that speaking to the Pharisees, to the Jews who thought that , they are going to heaven, they're guaranteed. They're going to heaven and the Gentiles are going and including the Samaritans are going to hell unless they convert and what ever, Jesus is saying, no, no, heaven is for anyone who accepts me and who lives according to my name and my purpose.
And hell is for those who reject me and reject those whom I love. And so now when it comes to this place, again accepting and it's a beautiful place because we know there's Samaritans and there are Jews. And so it's this common suffering you see, even though Jews and Samaritans wouldn't talk, but all of a sudden these guys, they didn't care that they were Jews or Samaritans. They were people with leprosy, people who are outcast , people who are isolated, people who are hated.
And so they gathered together , as a family. And that's what suffering does. So suffering unites us. And I think that's one of the beautiful things about suffering. Um, sometimes we think of suffering as only a negative thing, but there's also a lot of beauty, a lot of goodness that comes out of suffering and isolation and being an outcast because at that place we gather together with people, who share that same suffering.
And I think that, yeah, when there's a group of people suffering in the same thing, they're all outcasts together, then it becomes, you know, you're more encouraged and more enthused to find a way out. So these, you know, there might've been 10 people that were like, yeah, Jesus will heal us, but there might have only been at the start eight and then the other two joined and all of a sudden they got excited and enthused as well.
Like you know, that's the community and that's, you know , where two or three are gathered, then Jesus will listen. And that's exactly what's happened.
Exactly. So they brought each other as well as a broken community, came to Jesus and came to Jesus authentically. One thing I find really interesting is as it stated, like they stood at a distance, because by law they had to. They had to stay, I guess it was 50 yards away. I don't know what 50 yards is, but it sounds like a distance. 50 yards away from the next person. So if they were any closer, they did walk around with bells. And they have to shout by law shout, unclean, unclean.
And so people would know where they were, where the lepers were, so they wouldn't step anywhere close to them. So it was a really desperate isolation. Like no touch, no community, no friendships, even your closest friends, you are rejected by those. So there's an absolute incredible suffering apart from the actual physical element . If it was eczema, I can imagine the torture there. But leprosy also it's a horrible disease.
Even web, literally fingers and noses would fall off , off of the body and it wasn't curable. It was an incurable disease. That makes this healing just so much bigger when you realize it's not just a physical, you know, their skin clears up or what it might be, but all of a sudden they can have their family back, they can have their friends back, they can go to the temples again and socialize with people. They have community again.
They don't need to yell at people that there are unclean anymore. Like there's so much physical and emotional and social healing that Jesus does in this miracle. And going back to the community with a deeper understanding of a wider community. So then with new friends who were Samaritans, and I think this is again, I'm remembering in suffering. We remember only that we are people of need. And that's the law of nature. I suppose. Suffering draws people together.
Even nature, you know, when there's a flood or a natural disaster , um, animals grow gathered to a high point, to a place where they're not going to be drowned. But so in places where there are different animals, you have snakes next to kangaroos in Australia, things that would naturally be enemies naturally would attack one another. But they're not attacking or eating each other because they're in this place of suffering. They're peacefully there, waiting for help.
And while waiting for nature to go back to what it was created to be, and again, this is what suffering does. It gathers us together in peace. This is the one thing they had in common. Those who are suffering. All of a sudden they were drawn together with that common need for God, a common need for healing. And so this is what God gave them. This healing of body, mind, soul, emotions, community, all of a sudden they were free. Can you imagine their life would never be the same again.
All their dreams though that they've been praying for, all of a sudden it's answered, but there's no gratitude. Only one person went to thank Jesus. I've received so much grace in my life. You know, I just think about the amazing graces I receive every day and one thing, I make a point every day, every day. Honestly, even I sit in my car and I don't think there's a day I sit in my car and I just say, Jesus, thank you for this car and I hold my dog and I say, Jesus, thank you for my dog.
I sleep in my bed. You know, I say, thank you Jesus for my bed. I thank God all the time. It's about having this attitude of gratitude about being people who by habit become a people of thanksgiving. Otherwise we start to take things for granted and this is where Jesus in a sense gets upset. This is where the gospel writer says, Hey, something's disordered here. Weren't there 10 of you, where are the other nine? Only one came with this attitude of gratitude.
Yes, so this scripture does show us that they didn't have that attitude of gratitude. Um , the other nine. But one thing that really struck me was that they had this deep faith where Jesus didn't heal them and then say, go and show yourselves to the priest . Like he said, go and show yourselves and on the way they were cleansed. So they went with that attitude like, yep, like he said go and that we can show ourselves as clean and on the way they were cleanse.
And I think that that's so beautiful. So they had the faith, but then it's that gratitude that should flow back from that. Like we can go and ask Jesus and you know, knock and keep knocking and you'll receive. And then it's turning back and realizing what, what of grace and what a gift it is that he is faithful and he does heal us.
I didn't realize that, like so the scripture says that they were, they weren't immediately healed.
Yeah. So it's go and show yourselves to the priests and as they went, they were cleansed.
Wow. So as they went, they were clients. So that's acting in faith.
Yeah. So they had that faith, but then it's , they didn't have that gratitude to run back to Jesus and thanks him straight away . Where is this Samaritan, I think, well it sounds like before he even got to the preast, so on the way he realized he was cleansed, ran straight back to Jesus to thank him.
Wow, and so that shows even the greatest gratitude. So he goes there, they're running down as they're running, just imagine, well look, my hands are getting better again . And by the time they get to the priests, they're healed. And that's how God works with us sometimes.
Hey , when he asks us to trust in him, even though we don't see the results, and it you know is reminding me of something that you had mentioned as well in last week's gospel and podcasts is that the Centurion, Lord, I'm not worthy, that you should enter under my roof. So Jesus, he sort of offers to go to this centurion's house, but instead the Centurion who has that same faith says, no, no, no, I don't need you to be in my house. I'm not worthy for that.
But you just say the word and I know miles away, that my, servent will be healed and yeah, so this is the same like trusting in God a beautiful trust in God.
Absolutely. And even another aspect of that, the faith of these 10 is that, I don't know, something that struck me is that, you know, they had to shout at Jesus from a distance and they did because they knew that he could help them with, however they found that out, they knew that, but they couldn't go close to him. And I just reflect on my own life. Like, how many times have I tried to stay away from Jesus?
Cause yeah, I have that attitude of I'm not worthy so I don't want to get too close or I'm ashamed. So I don't want to go to the sacrament of reconciliation. The Jesus is here, like so willing to heal and so ready to come and embrace me. But yeah, it's often our own kind of thoughts where like, no, I'm not worthy, or no, I'm not clean or I'm not good enough, or my life isn't together so I'll stay at a distance from Jesus. So I can't approach him, but he's so ready to approach us.
And he didn't care. Right ? I imagine the Jesus I know at least he wouldn't care. He'd just walk towards them and love them and embrace them. And , this is what God does for us. He loves us. And sometimes we're guilty. We don't feel worthy. And we think God is going to take away something rather than give us something. But this is what God gave. But then at the same time, he also expects this gratitude, this attitude of gratitude.
Because I think if we are not a people of gratitude, it's, it's bringing out a sense of pride that Hey, we take things for granted. We take, we take God for granted and God does expect devotion. He does expect worship and for us to to give worth where it is due .
And I think that's a beautiful thing about the one that returned is that when he returned, there are two things he did. One was that he praised God. He returned praising God. He gave credit where credit is due. It wasn't about, you know, I'm healed now and I'm back in society. It was God is good. God is incredible and all praise and glory to him. And then he fell on his face in front of Jesus. Like he acknowledged who he was in front of like what a powerful thing it was.
Yeah. Like just this attitude of it's glory to God, praising God. And then humility before Jesus
To bow down. And so that's what worship is. Worship the word is sort of an English. You can take worth ship giving something it's worth. But also it comes from the , um , the word, the Greek proskuneo, which means to bow down in obesience. Not obedience, but obesience in honor towards something. So it's to prostrate yourself, pros ku neo to bow down and give something it's worth in worship to lower ourselves and elevate that something else. And this is what God expects.
He expects worship because he deserves the worship. It's not because we're good or because God wants us to be subject to him, but because simply because he deserves it. And we need to be as Catholics, as Christians, we need to be a people of worship who spend time every day in worship every day, acknowledging God, acknowledging his greatness, his Providence and his love.
And a beautiful thing about this, you know, just worship of God and understanding of who he is and how he loves us. That can overflow into, you know, so many of our circumstances, like it's not just healing, but it's, yeah , as you saying before, father of like, just being grateful for everything we have and you know, that goes from our workplaces to our families, our parents, everything in our life. You know that just that's a gift from God.
And that comes because he's good and cause he loves us. And then we also need to in humility, just give him praise and thanks for those gifts
And being a person of , of worship, of a , a prosecutor , Nao of a person who was um, a , a person who gives God is worth we as a consequence give God his worth in others, God, his worth in nature, God, his worth in circumstances and we become a joyful, people are happy. People are positive people as opposed to always expecting from the world and well to bow to us.
And people who are negative are people who expect the world and expect parents and expect nature and expect circumstances to bow to us and it doesn't work that way. We bow to God in all we bow to God in every part of our life. And sometimes things go our way , sometimes they don't, but God still deserves to be worshiped. He still deserves to be given his worth. And this is where gratitude helps being. And this is what this person did, this, this leper.
He came back when not taking it for granted or this thinking, Hey, okay , I didn't deserve the suffering. So , I'm back to normal. No, but far out, like in a incredible sense, far out. I cannot believe that I've come back. I cannot believe that I'm healed and to be a person of thankfulness and coming that we can imagine the joy it would have brought that letter to come back to God with thanks and the love that he would have had for Jesus because of that.
And so it's also being grateful, grateful for people around us for the things that we have for our parents, being grateful for the love they have shown us. Can you imagine how many sacrifices our parents have made for us, you know, from sacrificing their time, their energy, their attention, their lives. And then sometimes we don't, we take it for granted. We don't thank them. And, and the minute they become a nuisance in an extreme circumstance, we even get rid of them.
And so we just need to be , people who, who see God and honor God and give God his worth and even in our parents.
And as well as parents has so many relationships in our life that sometimes we forget to be grateful for. And you know, these , yes, other family relationships or friendships, colleagues, you know, strangers, yeah. You know, the person that you share the commute with everyday , like they're even a small part of your life and we forget to be grateful for those things, for those people sometimes. But then also I guess an attitude that we should have with others is to build them up.
Like especially when others have success and we might feel that we're not succeeding or we're not receiving a blessing that we're really praying for or whatever it might be, where we're tempted to, I guess have an attitude of jealousy or to maybe help ourselves when we could help someone else up. Like having that humility and understanding that we want to build each other up and then kind of being grateful as well.
Like as you were saying, like joyful, like grateful for the opportunity to help someone else.
And grateful for what we have and because we are grateful for what we have and with this attitude of gratitude that we can be also , at peace when other people are raised up as opposed to being feeling threatened. And so , to wish others well as well. And that's we're honoring God, we're giving gratitude to God as we wish the success of others. And then that brings us also to being grateful to God as I was saying, you know, driving your car, thanking God for the gift of your car, before a meal.
Why do I have grace before meals? Not because it's a lot to do. So it's because it's building again, that attitude, attitude of being grateful towards others, grateful for the gifts that we have. So thank God before meals, thank God before I'm going out, thank God and pray for others. As Catholics, we use grace before meals because as a tradition, it's a reminder to us to be grateful. Traditionally, which grace say because in our family we said it very fast for every meal.
Um, but then as I got older I realized that that was like from my goodness so from my bounty instead of so like we were just like 'bless us, O Lord, and these, Thy gifts, which we are about to receive from Thy bounty. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen' Thanks God. And now it's time to eat. And then as an adult I was like, ah , we can say other words in there. So now I get really nervous when I'm praying grace with others. I'm like, are they a bounty family?
We're a bounty family. We , um, well now, today, most of the time I'd just say in my own words, but um, one of the things we'd say, bless her soul Lord, and these thy gifts, which we are about to receive from thy bounty through Christ our Lord. Amen. So that's how we'd say, but then we'd say, the souls of the fateful deposits to the mass of God. Rest in peace. Amen. We'll take that opportunity as well to pray for those who have died, those in secretary.
Yeah. And my father was always upset about that he said why we're praying for dead people before our meal. But it is again, a tradition to remember those who are suffering and those suffering in purgatory. So as well to pray for them in gratitude for their lives as well and in gratitude for their eventual salvation in heaven. And so yeah, thanking God and also the way we return to God in gratitude. We go to Sunday mass and we go in gratitude towards God. And that's what the Eucharist means.
It's means, Eucharistia which means Thanksgiving to thank God for the, his goodness in our lives . So again, out of all the flow of what we have received, we go to mass on a Sunday to receive him and to be again, filled to overflowing.
And in that something we can learn from this leper that was healed, is that when he realized the healing, he turned back like he didn't keep going. And I mean, yeah, like this kind of immediacy to thank God in every, in every single moment of our lives. And when we remember that we haven't thanked him recently. Not to be like, Oh, don't pray about it later, but like in that moment, and just with immediacy, run back to thank him.
Yes. Immediacy. Is that a word? Do you know what it means? Yeah, I got the gist of it, yeah. I think it would be beautiful to have a podcast one day where you don't make fun of my questionable English. Immediacy, I don't know, might be a word . I don't know. Maybe. But it is this coming back to God with immediacy, without delay. So she's looking at me just giving me a death step. Mom help me. You don't need to help me ooh. This is how I feel right now [music].
Okay. So we've reached the end of our podcast. What a note to finish on. Psalms 103 again, it comes to my mind. Bless the Lord. All my soul, my inmost being blessed, his Holy name, forget not all his benefits. He who heals all your diseases and forgives all your sins. That does be a people of gratitude of people who thank God for everything, the good, the bad, everything in our lives and understand that being a person of gratitude, we are giving worship.
We're giving honor to a God who promises us. Joy, promises us peace. So we'd love to hear from you and I'm going to hand over to Danny to conclude this podcast.
Yeah, please get in touch with us frgministry at social media, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. Send us an email if that's your thing podcast@frgministry .com .
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