Friday of the 12th week in the ordinary time of the year A
Theme: Heal me Lord
In the gospel reading of today from St. Mathew, Jesus heals the man with leprosy. The dialogue that is seen between Jesus and the sick man, shows that the man had faith that Jesus had the power to restore him to health. During the time of Jesus leprosy was a sickness with great stigma, so it must have taken great courage for the man to go to Jesus, knowing fully well that Jesus will have some people around him as usual. Another thing that is easily noticed from the words of the sick man is his humility and faith in Jesus. He said, ‘Lord, if you will make me clean” Jesus touched him and said be clean and the man was restored to good health.
Interestingly, after the healing Jesus also did something that should be emulated by all of us as followers of Christ and ministers of the word of God. He warned him against publicity and simply said, go and show yourself to a priest, as the custom demands. This is a complete opposite of what is practiced in our own time. Some of us stage healings and miracles and publicize them on our own, and we get all the applause and glory that belongs to God. When a healing is true and sincere, you don’t have to publicize it because it will be seen by all. Just like the saying that a good product will sell itself, because there will be a lot of referrals by those who make use of it.
Dear friends in Christ, Jesus is still going about restoring people to good health. We are all sick in one way or the other and we are all in need of the healing of Jesus. Just like the man suffering from leprosy, let us humble ourselves and present that situation to him with faith. Don’t worry about the length of time you have spent praying for that situation in your life, do it again today with faith. You never can tell, remember that the way of God is different from our human ways. The sick man did not fall sick on the day he met Jesus, he was sick for some time before the opportunity to meet Jesus came for him, and he took it, and that was the end of his sickness. One of the things we must learn when we deal with God, is to be patient and persistent. One day he will answer your prayers.
May almighty God answer our prayers in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit. Amen. Peace be with you.