Are you ready to be the Lord's voice for life and dignity here in California? - By Msgr. Simas

The motif for today's readings is gratitude for God's Universal gift of salvation. A gift offered to all of us who are made in the image and likeness of God. In today's first reading, Naaman Assyrian, comes to Israel to be healed of his leprosy. the disease which caused him to be shut off from his community.. and the Prophet Elijah ordered him to wash seven times in the River Jordan. and reluctant at first, it changed his mind and it did what Elisha suggested to him. and he's washed the leprosy. He then returns to the Prophet Elijah to thank him. declare now I know that there is no God in all the Earth except in Israel. It's important to note that Naaman was a pagan. and this reminds us hopefully that God's Gift of Salvation is a universal gift to all people. in the words of the psalmist the Lord has revealed to the Nations his saving power.

and in the gospel, Jesus is met by ten lepers who from a distance call out to him "Jesus master of have mercy on us". we offer the same cry, don't we at the beginning of every liturgy. Lord have mercy on us. and Jesus tells the lepers to go and show themselves to the priests according to the law. to certify their having been cleansed from their leprosy. and on their way, as we recall all ten. one of them, realizing had been healed, returned to thank Jesus. Saint Luke points out he was a Samaritan. remember Samaritans and Jews were like oil and water, they didn't mix. Even before this leprosy , the Samaritan would have been considered unclean by the Jewish leader simply by being a Samaritan. and yet this humble Man by returning to thank Jesus, shows True gratitude. an attitude we should all show toward the Lord for all the good things he has done and continues to do for each one of us. above all or have he died upon the cross or our salvation. the boundary lines between who might be saved, leper or clean, a Samaritan or Jew have been broken, they no longer exist. and the Samaritans return allows us, to allow Jesus, to demonstrate that no one, even a leper or a Samaritan is beyond God's mercy.

anyone can experience God's salvation, Shout with joy for it, praise God for it, and walk along the same road Jesus is traveling. you know if God has no bias or prejudice, we his children couldn't either. If God loves us unconditionally and without measure, so should we be. and because God has repeatedly assured us, I have loved you with an everlasting love, so should we assure one another with that. God loves that lives within the hearts of each one of us. I remember some time ago, not too long ago, but some time ago, we had a barbecue at the uh Sisters of the Holy Family for our Refugee families. and one of the refugees said to me, we are all children of Abraham, we're all children of Abraham, That is true, we're all one family and God loves each one of us unconditionally regardless of the color of our skin, where we come from, or our sexual orientation.

this home, we, you and I are those ten lepers. And through Jesus' death on the cross and his resurrection, we have been cleansed. That is to say Jesus has reopened for us the gate to heaven. like the one leper who realized what had happened, we returned to the living presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. Praise Him, to thank him, and mayor amen, May our amen, as we receive Jesus in the Eucharist be a renewal of our pledge to follow him. to be Witnesses to him in our world of today,

With the upcoming election in mind, we have the opportunity to be the Lord's voice, your life and dignity here in California. and I invite you to reflect upon the following Before You cast your vote. In his 2016 Apostolic exhortations, Pope Francis wrote: our defense of the innocent unborn needs to be clear, firm, and passionate, for it is at stake is the Dignity of a human life which is always sacred and demands love for each person regardless of his or her stage of development. and seemingly for those unable to see beyond the complex issue of abortion, other pro-life issues, the Holy Father continues in that exhortation equally sacred. equally sacred are the lives of the poor. those already born, the destitute, the abandoned, and the underprivileged, the vulnerable, in firm and elderly exposed to corporate euthanasia the victims of human trafficking, new forms of slavery, in every form of rejection, all are equally sacred. Are you ready? Are you ready to be the Lord's voice for life and dignity here in California? Are you ready?

你準備好了嗎？準備好成為天主在加州尊重生命的代言人嗎？

這個主日讀經的主題是感謝天主贈給我們的普世救恩。這是送給所有照天主的形象所造的人的禮物。讀經一 提到一個來到以色列先知厄里叟那裡尋求治愈的麻風病患，亞述人納阿曼。在耶穌的時代所有的痲瘋病人，都必須與社會隔絕，免得將病傳給別人。厄里叟就命令他到約旦河裡洗潔身子。納阿曼起初不願意，但後來他照著厄里叟的命令去做了，得到了痊癒。納阿曼回到厄里叟那裡感謝說：「現在我確實知道：全世界只在以色列有天主」。值得注意的是，這位受到治癒的納阿曼不是猶太人。這個故事提醒我們，天主的救恩是給所有的人。聖詠說：“上主已經宣佈了救恩，將正義啟示給萬民，全球都看見了天主的救恩”。

在福音中，有十個痲瘋病人遇見了耶穌，他們從遠處呼求「師傅，耶穌，可憐我們罷！」。在每一個彌撒的開始我們也同樣地呼喊：“上主求你垂憐”。耶穌治瘉他們後，吩咐他們按照法律去見司祭來證明他們的痲瘋病已經潔淨了。十個人之中有一個人，意識到自己的痊癒，就回來感謝耶穌。聖路加指出這是一位撒瑪利亞人。當時，撒瑪利亞人和猶太人不相往來，就像油和水一樣。不論是患了痲瘋病與否，猶太領袖都認為撒瑪利亞人是不潔的。然而在這10個人中，只有一位謙卑的撒瑪利亞人回頭向耶穌表示衷心的的感激。上主為我們的罪被釘死在十字架上，祂並且持續地對我們施恩，我們每一個人都應該表現這種衷心地感激。到底誰能得到救恩呢？痲瘋病或潔淨的人，撒瑪利亞或猶太人的這個界限已經被打破，不存在了。經由這撒瑪利亞人得救的故事，耶穌告訴我們所有的人，痲瘋病人和撒瑪利亞人，同樣都受到天主的憐憫。

所有人都可以得到天主的救恩。我們歡呼讚美天主，感謝祂賞識這個恩寵，我們也追隨了耶穌。天主沒有偏見，身為天主的子女，我們也不該有偏見。天主無條件地愛了我們，我們也該無條件的彼此相愛。天主一再的保證永遠愛我們，同樣的，我們也該彼此保證永遠相愛。天主住在我們每一個人的心中。不久以前，聖家修女會為難民家庭舉辦了烤肉活動。其中有一個難民對我說：“我們都是亞巴郎的孩子”。是的，我們都是亞巴郎的子孫。我們都屬於一個家庭。無論我們來自哪裡，我們的膚色，，天主都是無條件地愛了我們每一個人。

在這家中，你和我就是那十個痲瘋病人。通過耶穌在十字架上的死和復活，我們都得到了潔淨。意識到耶穌對我們的愛，為我們打開了通往天堂的大門，讓我們回到聖體聖事中與永生的耶穌同在。讚美祂，感謝祂，願我們在聖事中接受耶穌聖體時所說的阿門，更新了我們跟隨祂的承諾。在今世成為耶穌的見證人。

選舉即將舉行，我們有機會在選舉中來見證上主對生命和人性的尊重。請您在投票前反覆思考教宗方濟各在2016 年發表的宗座勸諭：“我們對無辜未出生嬰兒的保護必須要明確、堅定和熱情，因為這關係到人類生命的尊嚴。我們對每個生命的愛，始終是神聖的。對於那些無法了解複雜的墮胎和反墮胎問題的人，教宗有同樣的神聖勸告。那些已經出生的人、赤貧者、被遺棄者、弱勢群體、安樂死的老年人、販賣人口的受害者、新制度下的的奴隸、受到各種形式拒絕的人，他們的生命也是同樣的神聖。準備好成為天主在加州尊重生命的代言人嗎？你準備好了嗎？