A Gospel according to 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.
REFLECTION: “If you wish, you can make me clean.”
Imagine this poor man, sick and taken away from society. He is not quite asking or demanding, but being extremely humble in his petition: "If you wish..."
"...You can make me clean."
It makes me wonder? Do I demand favors from God? Have I ever asked Him to remove the stumbling rocks that make me fall over and over? Do I ever beg for my spirit to be cleansed?
I am not talking only during confession, but, have I ever asked God to remove the deep wounds in my soul that make me sin?
Even St. Augustine struggled with this: "O Lord, make me chaste, but not yet."
What would you or me say to the Lord?: "O Lord, give me temperance, but not yet.", "O Lord, give me meekness, but not yet.", "O Lord, give me kindness, but not yet."
