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.”
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 Gospel of the Lord
Reflection: For many who suffer a debilitating illness or, as it is the case for many now, suffering a devastating hardship, today’s Gospel passage may feel like an indictment against our faith. We hear how the leper knelt and begged Jesus to cure him, and He did! All of us have knelt and begged Jesus to confer on us a miracle at some time in our life. Perhaps right now you are kneeling and begging God for a miracle but it seems your prayers have gone unanswered. As a result, a question that is often in the hearts of those suffering an illness or going through a tough time is “why others and not I?” If you are in such case, you may feel a mixture of guilt, disappointment and even anger. You maybe questioning whether the reason your situation has not improved is because your faith is not strong enough, or you have a committed a grave sin, or God has forgotten about you. Ever since Jesus went about doing signs and wonders up until now, whenever one person is blessed with a miracle, many others ask the same question: “why them and not me?”
Case in point. In the midst of the recent fires, we learned that some houses were barely touched by the flames while hundreds more around were lost. Is it because somehow God has predilection for them over everyone else? or Is it because these individuals’ faith is greater than ours? Absolutely not! What most of us fail to remember in these moments is that God already has given us the greatest miracle of all, the greatest miracle given to all of us! Any other miracle is just a signpost pointing to it; reminding us of it!
Whether we like it or not, suffering and death are a part of life. We all go through dire moments at one point or another in our lives. When those moments afflict us, there are two important points to understand: (a) that God does not will for us to suffer and (b) whatever miracles we hear about, they are just reminders that Jesus is Emmanuel (God-with-us) and that we can find comfort in knowing that, as long as we persevere in faith until the end, all of us will partake of the greatest miracle of all!
So, the next time we learn that someone else receives a miracle but not us, let us remember that these are not indictments against the strength of our faith, or that we are being punished for some sin, or that God wills for us to suffer, or that God loves us any less!
NO! Let us see these miracles for what they truly are. They are signposts pointing to the greatest miracle of all: The promise of the RESURRECTION!
“Action for the day:
If you have been directly affected by the fires, or otherwise are afflicted by some illness, or some other serious predicament, I invite you to go to your sacred place, take a moment away from it all -even for just five minutes and reflect on this: God never promised we will not suffer, but that He will be with us. Hopefully you will recognize that Jesus (Emmanuel) is in your life, even now. He is in the many individuals lending a helping hand, praying for you or making sure you are safe. Jesus is and will be present in those who will continue to assist you in your life.
Website link: https://deacon5.com/
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