6th Sunday of the year – Year B
Lev. 13:1-2, 45-46; Psalm 31; 1 Cor. 10:3-11; Mark 1:40-45
Read: A leper came up to Jesus and pleaded fervently, fell on his knees before him and said “You can cure me if you wish!”. Feeling sorry for him, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him saying “Of course I want to, be cured!”
Reflect: Our God nears those who are lepers spiritually ….. sinners, he gets close to those who are psychological lepers through sadness, solitude, tension, fear; he approached also those who are lepers physically …… every kind of sickness. On these the Lord places his hand, because for him none of his earthly beings is a leper, more so his children, human beings. Jesus chose those who were lepers and abandoned by everybody; for this reason, “he took on himself all our illnesses”. To do so, he was led away to be crucified and killed outside the Holy City, in a place considered not to be holy. Therefore, if we fell in any way tainted by any form of ‘leprosy’, let us have the courage to say to the Lord: “You can cure me if you wish!”. And Jesus will also tell us: “Of course I want to, be cured!”
Pray: O Lord, you can interpret our inner feelings. We harbour fears, suffer sickness, also are sinful, and even lose heart. If you wish you can heal us! Come near us. You, who are full of mercy. Talk to us, touch us and heal us. Make us the same as the healed leper, making your mercy known to all.
Act: As we have seen, Jesus did not reject lepers; he used to cure them. He does the same with us. But he used to ask two things of them. That they approach him full of faith, and that they show themselves to the priests, as evidence of their healing. He asks the same from us. Let us approach our Lord with faith, seeking from a priest in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, so that, in the name of God, he will give us the grace of healing, by bringing to us God’s forgiveness.