What happened to the other nine? In today’s gospel, Jesus tells the parable about the ten lepers who came to Jesus to be healed from leprosy. (Luke 17: 11-17) After He healed them, He told them to go to the priests to be cleansed. This was a requirement of the Mosaic Law. They all did this, but only one of them came back to thank Him, falling to his knees in front of Jesus. Jesus blessed them and sent him on his way.

What happened to the other nine? What did they do after they were healed? It’s one of those questions that just doesn’t get answered in the gospels. What happened next? Why don’t we know? It’s never mentioned again.

It reminds me of a show my wife watches all the time—“Say Yes to the Dress”. It’s about brides going to these fancy bridal salons, one in New York and one in Atlanta, to pick out their wedding dresses. You hear all about how they met their fiancé, how in love they are, how they’re soulmates, and how they’re going to be together forever. But you never hear what happens after the wedding. Do they stay married? Do they get divorced? Do they end up killing each other? Are they happy? You just don’t know the ending. And it’s the same with this parable. We don’t know what happened to the nine lepers. Did they become followers of Jesus? Did they go out and spread His message? Or did they just go back to their old ways?

Honestly, you could write a whole book about all the unanswered questions in the gospels—stories that just leave you hanging. Maybe I should do that someday, along with all the other things I’ve said I wanted to do. I’m wandering again. But this story really makes you think. What do you think happened? I’ve started reflecting more on these kinds of questions when I read the gospel. Before, I’d just read it and think about it for a bit. Now, I try to go deeper.

So, what happened with the nine lepers? I don’t know. I’d like to think they went out and became good Christians, did good deeds, prayed, helped others, and lived better lives. But honestly, being jaded by today’s world, I feel like they probably just went off, happy they were healed, but not really thanking God for it. Maybe they just thought, “Great, now I can do all the stuff I couldn’t do before because of my leprosy.” That’s kind of the society we live in now—one that doesn’t thank God, doesn’t pray, doesn’t think about these things.

But we should be thankful. God has given us everything we have, even when life gets tough. I’ve had my share of hard times, but God has always been there, blessing me in so many ways. I don’t always thank Him like I should, but I know I need to. We all need to. We should praise Him every day and spend time in prayer. I thank God for everything in my life—my kids, my grandkids, my wife, her kids, her grandkids. I don’t have much, but I don’t need it. I don’t want a lot. What I do have, God has given me, and I’m grateful for it every day.

I’m still a sinner, and I know that. But I’m trying to get better, and I think I’m doing okay—not great, but okay. I just need to keep working on it and remember that it’s God who heals us. He’s performing miracles in our lives every day, even if we don’t realize it.

So, we don’t know what happened to the nine lepers. All we can do is hope they went on to do good things. And that’s what we all need to do—thank God for what we have every day and live in a way that reflects His blessing, and then go on and do good things.

Then said Jesus, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? 18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well

The Holy Bible, Revised Standard Version; Second Catholic Edition (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2006), Lk 17:17–19.