Throughout my life, I have visited many hospitals and accompanied dear friends at the cusp of eternal life. Those who were ill, fought for their lives. Some survived, but not all.

When I am honest with myself, I think about my grandmother who died in the early years of COVID. She was alone. How I wish I had been with her or that she had the opportunity to be surrounded by her family in her final moments before leaving this life. It is something I struggle with in seeking understanding and acceptance.

The theme that threads through Sunday’s Gospel is the healing of leprosy. In the First Reading, we meet Naaman, the Syrian general who contracted leprosy. He traveled to Israel to find the prophet Elisha whom God used to perform miracles. Elisha gave the command to wash seven times in the Jordan River. After obeying Elisha, Naaman’s skin became “like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean of his leprosy.” Was that the great intervention of God?

The Greek word for miracle in the New Testament is sign. The miracle points us to God. His miracle was not only the healing of his skin, but the healing of his soul. He utters to the prophet, “I will no longer offer holocaust or sacrifice to any other god except to the LORD.”

This healing of soul is magnified in the Gospel. We meet a handful of characters and witness different levels of faith. The lepers came to Jesus. Coming to Jesus was one level of belief. They cried out to him and called him Master, another level of belief. They listened to his instruction to show themselves to the priest and “as they were going they were cleansed.” The miracle had not happened and yet they obeyed.

Jesus heals the ten lepers, but only the Samaritan, an outsider, returned because he recognized Jesus was more than a prophet. He knew Jesus as Son of God. In the recognition of this truth, the Samaritan returned and gave thanks to Jesus for the miracle.

Here are two takeaways. Do we live life anticipating our healing? God who is complete goodness will provide for everything we need. Once God grants this healing in his perfect timing, do we give thanks? I believe the lesson today is to always live life in gratitude for the gift that it is. Live knowing that Jesus will give us what we need when we need it.

If God can heal Naaman and the ten lepers, those who were considered the outsiders, God can heal our own soul. He can reach us beyond the boundaries of our disbelief for “all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation by our God” (Psalm 98:3).

With the openness of heart, God can make us whole, give understanding and acceptance to our suffering and point us to his Son who, at his Cross, embodies the answer to all human suffering.