Tag: leper

“And he was made clean.” | Thursday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “Come, let us bow down in worship; let us kneel before the LORD who made us. For he is our God, and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides. If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mark 1:40-45)

The man went away and began to publicize the whole matter. He spread the report abroad so that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly. He remained outside in deserted places, and people kept coming to him from everywhere.

The man with leprosy who comes to Jesus and drops to his knees says, “If you wish, you can make me clean.” Jesus tells him, “I to will it. Be made clean.” He is healed immediately, and Jesus tells him not to tell anybody, but the man tells everybody he knows. Word of Jesus spreads, and it is impossible for him to go anywhere unrecognized. He remains outside of towns in deserted places, yet people come to him from everywhere for his healing. By the time Saint Paul writes the Letter to the Hebrews, the risen Jesus is present in the “today” of people’s lives and until he comes again. “We have become partners of Christ,” Paul says, “if only we hold the beginning of the reality firm until the end.”

God, work with me today as I call to mind that one and all come to Jesus for healing and wholeness. They come as unrepeatable, unique people and as a people who seek to see the face of God and drop to their knees, presenting every need imaginable. Help me, Lord, come to you first for everything today, if only by saying your name and bringing you into the midst of everything I do. “And people kept coming to him from everywhere.” Why is that? Jesus, I trust in you.

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.

“I do will it. Be made clean.” | Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

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.

“I do will it. Be made clean.” | Thursday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mk 1:40-45)

A leper came to him and kneeling down begged him and said, “If you wish, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched the leper, and said to him, “I do will it. Be made clean.” The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean. Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once. Then he said to him, “See that you tell no one anything, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them.”

Showing deep compassion for the leper, Jesus reaches out to touch him. By going where no one else goes, Jesus hears the plea of the leper, spoken in humility and absolute trust: “If you wish, you can make me clean.” By divine authority, Jesus cures the leper immediately, a miracle he warns the leper not to share with anyone. Instead, Jesus tells him to be obedient to Jewish law by showing himself to the priest and offering appropriate sacrifices. Not ready to reveal his messianic identity, Jesus goes off to deserted places. But “people kept coming to him from everywhere.”

God, help me follow the example of faith and humility the leper demonstrates. He trusted completely in your mercy and recognized your divine power to restore his physical well-being. In the first line of today’s Gospel, Mark tells us that the leper came to Jesus, kneeling down and begging him. To no person or power on earth should anyone beg as the leper begged. Only before you, Lord, as the magi did at your birth, should all people fall to their knees. This is why the leper is a superb witness to our faith. From Psalm 86: “All the nations you have made shall come and bow down before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name.” When I veer today toward ungodly self-reliance, give me the grace to call to mind the scene of the leper approaching your Son Jesus Christ. Be merciful and draw me back, close to you, every moment of this day.

From the responsorial psalm: “Why do you hide your face, forgetting our woe and our oppression? For our souls are bowed down to the dust, our bodies are pressed to the earth. Redeem us, Lord, because of your mercy.”

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.