SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, FEBRUARY 11, 2024

MASS READINGS:

Gospel

Mk 1:40-45

A leper came to Jesus and kneeling down begged him and said, “If you wish, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched him, 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. 

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

“If you wish, you can make me clean.”

We all like comfort, normalcy and peace. Unfortunately at some point we will meet chaos, illness and caustic people and situations. We might not understand the pain we are going through nor the pain, unknowingly, we inflict on others.

We can become a reflection of the turmoil, fear, pain we find ourselves living. Our attitudes or behaviors change. We can become bitter, rigid, harsh and self destructive as we find ourselves isolated from what we had or want and now in a foreign land of pain and misery.

How do we survive without setting up road blocks? How will people react to me if I am not one of them? To be like the crowd would help me fit in and maybe, perhaps be liked, but then I would be living for them, wearing different masks for the different occasions.

It is good, in a way, to be a people pleaser, because it is easier to emulate the virtuous person. But at one point I must be myself. I must measure up to what I am going through. And this is where God is waiting for us to call, “If you wish, you can make me clean.”

Suffering will not leave us --it is part of life. God will never leave us. It is part of His promise, our faith. And that is why we trust Him.

Like the leper, I can cry out for help. I know prayer and the Holy Spirit can accomplish wonders. Immersing myself in the Bible and the lives of saints help to understand life here on earth. If I cannot find meaning in my situation, find out how others did.

We can read the saint of the day and see how they coped and dealt with evil. One such book is John Paul II and the Meaning of Suffering. Don't allow evil or sickness to define you. Seek and find the One who created you. He gives you meaning in life. Trade your misery for His blessings. It takes work, but a worthwhile journey to take.

God Bless You