2025/10/12 SCRIPTURE REFLECTION

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

- Erika Wenson, Communications Associate

This weekend’s Gospel message from Luke 17 comes at a timely point in our city as we gear up to cheer on thousands of runners for the Chicago Marathon.  Thousands of runners will be speeding by Clark and Deming, just blocks from Saint Clement to undertake a challenge that less than 1% of people ever do in their lifetimes.  In a similar theme, the Gospel reading opens with 10 lepers who are hurrying along their way.  They see Jesus from afar and cry out for healing but have no time to actually stop.   

I can relate. Life naturally moves through seasons—some slower, some fuller—and Fall at Saint Clement is one of those vibrant seasons when our community comes alive with opportunities to reconnect, grow, and find belonging together through our many offerings. That being said, my days are much busier this time of year than in other times.  My prayers change from sitting down for 20 minutes to saying a “Lord help” as I navigate from one meeting to the next, one event to the next, one task to the next.  The good news of the Gospel message is that Jesus helps, even in the leper’s haste.  Even while they are rushing, Jesus still works a miracle in them.  How gracious a Father is that? That even when we are too busy to give our full attention, that He still cares for us, heals us, and hears or “Lord help” cries?  

I’m next reminded of the Samaritan leper who was the only one of the ten that comes back to thank Jesus. It’s a reminder to our faith lives of the true importance of stopping, even if it is for only 10 minutes in our day to reflect and be grateful for the good things He is doing in our lives.  This Samaritan, who was a foreigner and outsider, unfamiliar with the customs and practices of the Jewish faith at the time, realized his healing and bowed down before Jesus in gratitude.   

Maybe you too are in a season of haste, just like me.  My prayer is that this reading encourages us to deliberately slow down once again and take time to reflect on all the ways God is working in our lives.  Some ways that have helped me do this in the past are waking up an extra 15 minutes earlier to read the daily devotion in the Bible App, making time at the end of my day before bed to write a gratitude entry in my journal, or if I’m super short on time, put on a worship song and let the lyrics soak into my soul. The good news is that in these busier seasons, God gives us reminders like these to slow down once again and be grateful for all the ways He is moving in our lives, regardless of if we are aware of it!