Wednesday, November 11, 2026
Wednesday of the Thirty-second week in Ordinary Time
Luke 17:11-19
Listen to the whole reading — MP3
First reading
Titus 3:1-7
Remind them to be in subjection to rulers and to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, not to be contentious, to be gentle, showing all humility toward all men. For we were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love toward mankind appeared, not by works of righteousness which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy, he saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly, through Jesus Christ our Savior; that being justified by his grace, we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Responsorial psalm
Psalms 23:1-3,3-4,5,6
The Lord is my shepherd: I shall lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He guides me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup runs over. Surely goodness and loving kindness shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the Lord’s house forever.
Gospel
Luke 17:11-19
As he was on his way to Jerusalem, he was passing along the borders of Samaria and Galilee. As he entered into a certain village, ten men who were lepers met him, who stood at a distance. They lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” As they went, they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice. He fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks; and he was a Samaritan. Jesus answered, “Weren’t the ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there none found who returned to give glory to God, except this stranger?” Then he said to him, “Get up, and go your way. Your faith has healed you.”
Lectio
There is a line in Paul's letter to Titus that we tend to read too quickly: "not by works of righteousness which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy." Everything we are—our place among the heirs, our hope of eternal life—arrived as pure gift. We were foolish, Paul says, disobedient, enslaved to our own appetites. And then kindness appeared. Not kindness we earned, but kindness that came looking for us. This is the soil in which all ten lepers stand when they cry out from a distance, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us."
All ten were healed. That is worth sitting with before we rush to the lesson about gratitude. The nine who did not return were still cleansed; mercy did not withhold itself from the ungrateful. But only one turned back, and to him Jesus says something he says to no one else: "Your faith has healed you." The others got their skin back. This one got something deeper—a wholeness that reaches past the body into the soul. The difference was not the cure. The difference was that he came back. He let the gift become a relationship.
And notice it was the Samaritan, the outsider, the one with the least standing, who saw most clearly what had happened to him. Sometimes those who have been furthest from belonging are the quickest to recognize undeserved love when it finds them. The Psalm says the cup runs over—not filled, but overflowing. The question is whether we will stand in the overflow and say thank you, or simply walk on, grateful in a vague way, our eyes already on the next thing.
Where in your life right now have you received something good and simply walked on, meaning to come back later to give thanks—and who, specifically, have you never actually thanked?
What is the one appetite or resentment from your "foolish" past that you still secretly believe disqualifies you from the mercy God has already poured out on you?
Saint of the day
St. Martin of Tours, Bishop († 397) - Memorial
Ora reads this aloud, every morning, free. Ora