12 January , 2023 -- Thursday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

 Gospel 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.”

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.

Reflection: 

What amazes me is the attitude and faith of the Leper so evident in his prayer, “If you choose, you can make me clean.” He does not force the hand of God in spite of knowing well that Jesus could free him from his dreadful misery. Leprosy at that point of time not only crippled the physical body but worse, it wore out the human spirit due to its consequential painful social exclusion and unholy labelling. Yet this person expresses his willingness to accept what Jesus would chose to do with his condition. Probably, the leper saw in Jesus’ gaze a compassion too deep to ignore his tormenting pain. The leper risked serious consequences in approaching Jesus and Jesus in turn, breached the code of law by touching in order to cure him and  re-instate him into the community. Unconditional faith always results in a miracle.

Action Plan: 

Ponder over your attitude and approach, when you converse with God in prayer.

Read and Reflect