SOMETHING INSIDE
Jesus emphasizes the human experience of healing and compassion, He goes
right to the heart of the matter!
A disastrous
defeat! And the ark was actually captured by the enemy. What went wrong? You
may answer the question by saying, that the Ark of the Covenant, the sign of
the presence of the Lord among them, didn't help the Israelite army. Throughout
the biblical accounts of both Testaments the people are often chastised for
allowing outward religious practice and observance to take the place of a
genuine change of heart. And I would agree that this is "going to the core
of the matter."
Today's story from
Mark's Gospel is of the healing of a leper. The simple dialogue between the
leper and Jesus preceding the act of healing shows that this was a true
covenant story, a covenant act, "If you wish, you can make me clean."
"I do will it. Be made clean." The story was related as an encounter
between God and the people. Here stands Jesus Christ, who possesses healing
power and is moved with pity for him. Here is a man who kneels in front of
Jesus, suffering great in body and spirit, and a social outcast. Jesus emphasizes
the human experience of healing and compassion, He goes right to the heart of
the matter! As we acclaimed in the responsorial psalm: Redeem us, Lord, because
of your mercy (Ps 44).
I would like to end
with this in our reflection today.
"Something Inside"
A man is more, much
more, than bone and blood and meat. Blood and meat we treat alike when we fight
in battle, and we give our orders to them and every man is as useful or not as
his neighbor. But when he is hurt or dying or recovering, or longing for
whatever it is he longs for, then-then there is something inside him that
shows, in ways you cannot put your finger on, and it is the most true thing
about him, and the most important.
- Paul Horgan
Points to Pray and Ponder. The human experience - our longings, desires, and
hopes are the most important things inside each of us and God sees and knows
them all! Throughout this Year of Mercy, may we further be a light of Christ in
the world, expressing our faith and putting it into action for others.