REFLECTIONS TODAY
Leprosy is a sickness that makes a person unclean, not only physically, but also ritually. The suffering of those who are afflicted is more psychological than physical. Lepers were ostracized and kept away from the community. Despite his need to be cleansed, it is interesting that the leper in the Gospel asks for his healing, “If you wish, you can make me clean” (v 40).
He does not command as, “Lord, make me clean.” He considers what the Lord wishes. He is rewarded with a very significant series of responses from Jesus: a stretching of hands, the touch, and then the words. The emotion of Jesus is one of pity. The words are among the most comforting ones that we find in the Gospels: “I do will it” (v 41).
The request of the leper for healing puts the Lord’s will above one’s own. When we ask the Lord for special favors and petitions, we end by saying that may his will be done. This miracle of Jesus reminds us that he listens to our prayers, that he cares for us, and that he wills our good. How do I ask the Lord for favors and graces? Do I consider his will?
First Reading • Heb 3:7-14
The Holy Spirit says: Oh, that today you would hear his voice, “Harden not your hearts as at the rebellion in the day of testing in the desert, where your ancestors tested and tried me and saw my works for 40 years. Because of this I was provoked with that generation and I said, ‘They have always been of erring heart, and they do not know my ways.’
As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter into my rest.’ Take care, brothers, that none of you may have an evil and unfaithful heart, so as to forsake the living God. Encourage yourselves daily while it is still “today,” so that none of you may grow hardened by the deceit of sin. We have become partners of Christ if only we hold the beginning of the reality firm until the end.
Responsorial Psalm • Ps 95 “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.”
Gospel • Mark 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 him, 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. 44Then 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.”
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.
Source: “365 Days with the Lord 2025,” St. Paul’s, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; E-mail: publishing@stpauls.ph; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.