A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mk 1:40-45)
A leper came to Jesus and kneeling down begged him and said, “If you wish, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched him, and said to him, “I do will it. Be made clean.” The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean.
“I do will it. Be made clean.” These words of Jesus to the leper reveal the Father’s will for all of his people. Leprosy was not part of God’s plan for humanity. Illness, disease, and death were not part of God’s plan. With a compassionate touch, Jesus heals the leper, showing his divine authority over human illnesses, isolation, and sin—and through his death and resurrection—even death. Jesus sternly warns the leper not to tell anyone about this miracle. Instead, he tells him to be obedient to Mosaic law in regard to the treatment of leprosy, which the first reading gives us a glimpse of. Instead, the man tells everybody he encounters; as a result, Jesus is unable to go unnoticed, and people come to him from everywhere.
God, help me understand today’s Gospel. Although from a time long ago and a place far away, Jesus’ treatment of the leper is living and effective today because he lives today and is truly present. The healing of the leper is not isolated in time and space, Lord, but is your mercy expressed here and now. Your will is to restore me to wholeness, to reconcile me to you. I want to fix in my mind the words of Jesus to the leper: “I do will it. Be made clean.”
From the responsorial psalm: “Blessed is he whose fault is taken away, whose sin is covered. Blessed the man to whom the LORD imputes not guilt, in whose spirit there is no guile. I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble, and you fill me with the joy of salvation.”
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.