First reading: 2 Kgs. 5:14–17

Naaman went down and plunged into the Jordan seven times at the word of Elisha, the man of God. His flesh became again like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean of his leprosy.

Naaman returned with his whole retinue to the man of God. On his arrival he stood before Elisha and said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel. Please accept a gift from your servant.”

Elisha replied, “As the LORD lives whom I serve, I will not take it;” and despite Naaman’s urging, he still refused. Naaman said: “If you will not accept, please let me, your servant, have two mule-loads of earth, for I will no longer offer holocaust or sacrifice to any other god except to the LORD.”

Second reading: 2 Tm. 2:8–13

Beloved: Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David: such is my gospel, for which I am suffering, even to the point of chains, like a criminal. But the word of God is not chained. Therefore, I bear with everything for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, together with eternal glory. This saying is trustworthy: If we have died with him we shall also live with him; if we persevere we shall also reign with him. But if we deny him he will deny us. If we are unfaithful he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself.

Gospel: Lk. 17:11–19

As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem, he traveled through Samaria and Galilee. As he was entering a village, ten lepers met him. They stood at a distance from him and raised their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!” And when he saw them, he said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” As they were going they were cleansed. And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. He was a Samaritan. Jesus said in reply, “Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?” Then he said to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you.”

In other words 

Fr. Ton Ynzon, SVD (Christ the King Seminary, Quezon City)

After several years of working in the seminary, I came up with three classifications that best characterize our former students.

First, we have the “long gone” alumni. These are students who, after graduation, never got the opportunity to visit their alma mater. They may either be priests, religious, or laymen. A lot of reasons have kept them from once again walking the sacred grounds of their alma mater. Modern social media platforms may have provided a virtual homecoming for them, but that does not sufficiently replace the actual atmosphere of Christ the King compound.

Second, we have the “back-for-more” alumni. Again, either religious or laymen, these former students are blessed to be living close by. Hence, they are able to revisit Christ the King and even enjoy a lot of privileges such as free use of the basketball courts, discounted rent of our facilities, or even a venue where they can make good business in selling goods that the compound and its residents would need. Indeed, the seminary continues to be a channel of God’s blessing to them.

Third, we have the “back-with-gratitude” alumni. Like the second group, they find time to return to their alma mater but not just to recall happy memories. This lot have learned gratitude in such a way that they would like to be a part of Christ the King Seminary’s continuous mission to form young men who aspire to become religious missionaries. Religious or laymen, the “gratitude group” would find time to encourage our young students to persevere and make the best out of every opportunity given to them by seminary training. These grateful alumni coordinate with current administrators to see how they can help, whether financially, professionally, or even as lay vocation promoters themselves. And all this volunteerism stems from hearts grateful that Christ the King Seminary has been a home for them in their crucial formative years.

Jesus had one out of ten lepers return to him. We do not have the statistics, but we hope we could belong to the few who proclaim gratitude towards mission.