Jesus here, as in other circumstances, says the words: «Your faith has made you whole». It is faith that saves human beings, re-establishing them in their profound relationship with God, themselves and others; and faith is expressed in gratitude. Those who, like the healed Samaritan, know how to say «thank you», show that they do not consider everything as their due but as a gift that comes ultimately from God, even when it arrives through men and women or through nature. Faith thus entails the opening of the person to the Lord’s grace; it means recognizing that everything is a gift, everything is grace. What a treasure is hidden in two small words: «thank you»! Jesus healed 10 people sick with leprosy, a disease in those times considered a «contagious impurity» that required ritual cleansing (cf. Lv 14: 1-37). Indeed, the «leprosy» that truly disfigures the human being and society is sin; it is pride and selfishness that spawn indifference, hatred and violence in the human soul. No one, save God who is Love, can heal this leprosy of the spirit which scars the face of humanity. By opening his heart to God, the person who converts is inwardly healed from evil.. (Angelus, Sunday, 14 October 2007 ).
