By coincidence we read this same Gospel passage from Luke on Sunday, 14 October. The first reading and responsorial Psalm are different and so throw different lights on the story. On 14 October the First reading was the story of Naaman the Syrian leper, who was healed by obedience to a simple command of the prophet, as the ten lepers were healed by a similar obedience to the word of Jesus.

Today the first reading, from the book of Wisdom, is a reminder to all those in authority, and indeed to all of us, that all authority ultimately comes from God. The nine Jewish lepers respected the authority of Moses and of the priests who exercised that authority after him. But they were not so attentive to God. The Samaritan leper, on the other hand, seems to have been more sensitive and contemplative. No doubt he would, in his own good time present himself to the priests as Moses commanded. But in the miraculous healing, he experienced the presence of God in Jesus and so returned immediately and knelt before Jesus in a spirit of Thanksgiving and adoration.