32nd Wednesday in Ordinary Time
Saint Josaphat, Bishop & Martyr
12 November 2025
Today we remember Saint Josaphat
— a bishop who gave his life for unity in the Church.
He served in the early 1600s when East and West were deeply divided,
and he poured himself out to reconcile the two
so they might be one in faith, one in worship, one in charity.
He is a martyr
because he believed unity was worth dying for
— not unity for unity’s sake,
but unity in the truth of Christ.
That is not the main point of this day
— but his life points toward the heart of our readings.
Because a person cannot serve with that kind of sacrifice
unless his heart is rooted in gratitude
— gratitude for what God has done,
gratitude for the gift of the faith,
gratitude for the Church.
And today’s Gospel is about that kind of gratitude.
Ten lepers are healed.
Only one returns.
And Jesus emphasizes the shocking part
— the one who returned was a Samaritan,
an outsider to Israel’s covenant.
Why is that detail so important?
Because the ones who should have been most ready to give thanks — didn’t.
They received a miracle…
and walked away.
They had been restored to their families,
restored to their lives,
restored to the Temple
— and they said nothing,
they took the gift for granted.
This Gospel spells out a great danger to those of us who have received the gift of His grace…
we can receive grace
and not respond to it.
We can become so accustomed to God’s blessings
— that we stop seeing them as blessings.
Sometimes the ones “inside the faith” can forget how miraculous grace really is…
while the outsider sees it clearly.
Sometimes the one with the most doctrine
knows the least gratitude.
That one Samaritan leper shows us the right response.
He returns to Jesus.
He praises God.
He thanks Him.
And Jesus says something remarkable:
“Your faith has saved you.”
Not just: “you are healed.”
Salvation enters the picture.
Because gratitude is not just good manners
— gratitude is an act of faith.
It is faith turned outward.
In the first reading we see that
Wisdom reminds those in authority
— and all of us —
that every good we have,
every gift we’ve received,
every moment of grace…
came from God. It says:
“Authority was given you by the Lord.”
Everything is gift.
Everything is entrusted.
Gratitude is the only right response.
Saint Josaphat knew this:
he lived his vocation
— his leadership, his sacrifice, his daily suffering —
as a response to the mercy he had received.
He didn’t work for unity to prove himself
— he did it because he had already experienced Christ’s love.
Matter of fact,
it would have been easier for him to leave things alone.
It would have saved his life.
But the gratitude in his heart fueled the mission Christ called him to.
That’s the invitation in this Gospel.
Not to compare ourselves to the nine who did not come back — but to imitate the one who did.
To be the one who notices.
The one who returns.
The one who thanks.
Because when we thank God for His gifts,
we see more of them.
When we live gratitude,
we open ourselves to grace.
And when we come to this altar
— the place of Eucharist —
we come to the greatest act of thanksgiving the world has ever known.
May we approach it like that Samaritan
— with hearts that fall at the feet of Christ,
grateful for mercy…
and ready to live our lives in response to it.
Let us ask for his intercession to help us:
Saint Josaphat, pray for us.