"If you wish, you can make me clean."
Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand, touched the leper and said to him, "I will do it. Be made clean"
Mark 1:40-41
I am deeply touched by today's gospel reading for many reasons. One reason is the simple humility of the leper. The leper is completely faithful. He has total trust in Jesus that Jesus can perform miracles, is the Son of God, is our Savior. He has complete faith. He says, "if you wish", like he knows it is not he himself that wills him to be made clean, but that it is Jesus who wills it. Sometimes, in our prayers, don't we ask for things rather abruptly? Like we are already deserving of the things we are asking? As though it would be some sort of affront to us by God if God did not protect us from harm, or did not allow us to have a good interview, or did not get us through the day without something bad happening. I feel like sometimes we tell God what we want, what we want him to do for us. Like it's some kind of deal. "You do this for me God, and I will totally believe in you truly." That somehow it's conditional.
The leper was humble. Sometimes, we are not. But if we can keep the humility in the back of our minds, and don't feel so entitled to protection or so entitled to all the things we are asking for, and realize that we are but little specks of dust in the whole scheme, perhaps Jesus will be moved to pity us, to have mercy on us, when we take away our pride and stand humbly before him asking him please, showing Him our weakness without Him. Tell him that it is up to Him, to grant us His peace, to lead us, to be by our side. That we need Him, that we rely on His strength, that our strength is not enough.
Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand, touched the leper and said to him, "I will do it. Be made clean"
Mark 1:40-41
I am deeply touched by today's gospel reading for many reasons. One reason is the simple humility of the leper. The leper is completely faithful. He has total trust in Jesus that Jesus can perform miracles, is the Son of God, is our Savior. He has complete faith. He says, "if you wish", like he knows it is not he himself that wills him to be made clean, but that it is Jesus who wills it. Sometimes, in our prayers, don't we ask for things rather abruptly? Like we are already deserving of the things we are asking? As though it would be some sort of affront to us by God if God did not protect us from harm, or did not allow us to have a good interview, or did not get us through the day without something bad happening. I feel like sometimes we tell God what we want, what we want him to do for us. Like it's some kind of deal. "You do this for me God, and I will totally believe in you truly." That somehow it's conditional.
The leper was humble. Sometimes, we are not. But if we can keep the humility in the back of our minds, and don't feel so entitled to protection or so entitled to all the things we are asking for, and realize that we are but little specks of dust in the whole scheme, perhaps Jesus will be moved to pity us, to have mercy on us, when we take away our pride and stand humbly before him asking him please, showing Him our weakness without Him. Tell him that it is up to Him, to grant us His peace, to lead us, to be by our side. That we need Him, that we rely on His strength, that our strength is not enough.
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