How many of us know what Faith really is? I have, of late, seen many crosses around necks. This signals to me that the person wearing the cross is a Christian. However, when I see that cross of a Christian, I assume it is a symbol of that person’s belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. But do we really understand what Faith is? It is not just a mere symbol. Or it’s a piece of jewelry that looks nice with what I am wearing. It is a statement of what I hold as the truth in living. It is a state of certainty about the path an individual has chosen. In the Gospel, there are many examples of Jesus saying, especially to those he has cured, “Your faith has healed you.” It is sincerity and belief that Faith celebrates. In our person.

Faith, by definition, means a person believes in something that is not dependent on physical evidence; we believe in Faith’s truth. You cannot hold it in your hand or visit it in a place; it is abstract. It means we have committed our lives to a path of belief that gives us that Faith.

This past week’s gospel was about the ten lepers healed by Jesus. The critical point of the story is that Jesus cured ten, and only one came back to thank and praise Jesus. This leper is a Samaritan; we have to assume that the other nine were traditional Jews, but they do not bother to thank Jesus. When the leper appears, Jesus asks, “Were not all ten cleansed? The other nine, where are they? Could no one be found to come back and give praise to God except this foreigner (Luke 17:17-19). Jesus calls him a foreigner because he is a Samaritan.

The Samaritans were a group that came from the territory of Judah, which had been split into two kingdoms: the North and the South. Due to conflicts in the area, some of the Jews intermarried with the Assyrians, who had taken the area. The complex history between the Samaritans and the Jewish nation came to a head with the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem after the Babylonian Captivity. The Samaritans frustrated the work of rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem. The Jews thought the Samaritans were spiritually corrupt, using Mt Gerizim as opposed to Jerusalem for their center of worship. They were considered heretics and despised for their unorthodox beliefs. However, they appear in many of the stories and cures that Jesus will use in his ministry.

The Samaritans are often cited as more charitable and compassionate than the Jews of Jesus’ time. The woman at the well, the good Samaritan, and in our case, the only leper to come and thank and praise Jesus after his cure. Interestingly, Samaritians appear in several of the gospels; however, there are others such as the Roman commander in Matthew 8. Who pleads for a cure from Jesus for his child. And Jesus makes this announcement about Faith, ” I tell you this: nowhere, even in Israel, have I found such Faith”. (Matt,8: 10). ‘Then Jesus said to the centurion, ‘Go home now; because of your faith, it is done. At that moment, the boy recovered. (Matthew 8:13).

In Mark, we have the woman who had medical problems Jesus cures her and says”, ‘My daughter, your Faith has cured you. Go in peace.” (Mark 5: 34). Additionally, after Jesus visits the apostles, after he is raised from the dead, Thomas questions if Jesus really rose from the dead. The famous scene unfolds, in which Jesus calls Thomas to Him and asks Thomas to test His wounds with his own hands. Jesus then makes this comment on Faith itself.” Jesus said, ‘Because you have seen me, you have found faith. Happy are they who never saw me and yet have found faith.” (John 20:29).

Our current world is very much about things, actual and real. But God, prayer, grace, heaven — abstract but powerful concepts — seem suspect; we are very much like Thomas, doubting and putting our faith in proven reality. Yet there is something in every human heart that seems to realize that things and worldly possessions, titles and celebrity are, in the end, unsatisfactory; they can’t hold the human spirit. Faith, on the other hand, although shapeless and abstract, enables us to discern the path to love and peace. Faith is a blessing and a gift. The path it offers is demanding and often challenging to follow, but it is Faith that makes our lives whole by giving us a sturdy foundation to build on and confidence to face any storm.

For we walk by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7)