Scripture readings for today's reflection can be found at Friday after Epiphany | USCCB
In our
gospel for today we hear of a leper approaching Jesus with faith in order to
receive the healing that he so desperately wanted. At the time of Jesus,
leprosy was an incurable disease that was very contagious and deadly. As a
result, people with it had to be segregated from society. It was their form of
“social distancing.” This social distancing was in the Mosaic Law to protect
others in the society from getting this terrible disease. As a result of having
this disease, whenever they walked along the street, they had to call out
“unclean” to warn people nearby that someone with leprosy was coming. It was a
lonely and terrible life. So it took great courage for this leper to approach
Jesus to ask for healing.
As with
other healings, this leper had the faith in Jesus to know he would be healed.
Jesus, not worried about becoming “unclean” himself, reached out to this man
and touched him to grant the healing that the man desired. The man was
instantly cleansed, and Jesus sent him to the priest to receive a clean bill of
health and be able to re-enter society.
In our own
society today, we have things that we need healing from that are just as bad as
leprosy was back in the time Jesus walked the earth. Physically we need healing
from the coronavirus. Even with the vaccine starting to become available,
people are still getting sick, and everyone is feeling hopeless and fear that
it will never go away. We also need healing from this political turmoil that
has been afflicting our country over the last few months. The violence, fear
and hatred that has come upon our country as a result of differing points of
view is something that needs to stop. These are real diseases, physical and
emotional, that we need to place in the hands of our Lord.
Let us place
our cares and concerns into the loving hands of Jesus and say, “Lord, if you
will, you can make us clean.” By placing all our cares and concerns into the
hands of the Lord, we will receive the physical and emotional healing that we
need. We just need to have faith in Jesus to carry out healing.
Lord Jesus,
grant healing to our country and to our world. Grant physical and emotional
healing to each one of us. And grant us the faith we need to know that you are
present to us in all our needs.
Amen. We definitely need physical, spiritual, emotional & political healing individually and as a nation. Our faith is being sorely tried, especially since there has been an increase in COVID-19 cases & varying opinions about what should be done, fear of the disease, & fear of our nation shutting down again.
ReplyDeleteOur nation is divided over COVID-19 & over the election & people have been saying mean & hateful things. We were subjected to mob violence in our cities over a course of several months & recently at the Capitol building.
More than ever we need to turn to God but when we do things still go awry & are not as we would have them. So as challenging as it seems we need to put out trust in God more than in human leaders & not lean on our own understanding. If we turn to Him in trust & acknowledge Him in all our ways & ask for healing, guidance & wisdom He will direct our paths and give us the healing we need in His own way & in His own time. (See Proverbs 3:5)