Author: admin

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Gospel: Mark 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.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Throughout history, perhaps the most brutal medical diagnosis was leprosy. It could last up to thirty years as a person’s skin slowly rotted away and their limbs fell off from their body. Eventually, lepers died after slipping into a coma, totally alone.

In the middle ages, priests would even process with a stole and a crucifix into church, leading a crew of lepers. Once inside, he would offer a funeral service for them even though they were still alive.

After the service, lepers were required to dress in black. They were both dead and alive.

If they ever wanted to see a church service again, lepers would have to peer through a crack in the wall from the outside.

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This is the context behind today’s Gospel passage, revealing the heart of Christ.

A leper breaks the Law by running up to Jesus. Instead of scolding him, or scurrying away in fear, the Lord engages him. 

Then he does the unfathomable: Jesus touches him. “I do will it,” Jesus says to this leper, “be made clean.”

Although the leper is cured, technically the Lord is now the one who’s ritually impure because of the contact. He cannot even enter his own Father’s house. 

But to prove this man is no longer impure, Jesus orders him to go back to the Temple, showing himself to the priests.

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In this remarkable scene, we discover several things about the heart of Jesus: First, his compassion is boundless. There’s nothing he will not do to save a soul, even if that means breaking the Law.

However, in sending the cleansed man back to the Temple, the Lord also demonstrates his respect for Old Testament rituals.

There’s a balance here between divine power, compassion, and tradition.

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So, what does this mean for us?

While it’s important to follow the laws inherent in religion (and the Church has many), in the end, compassion reigns supreme.

There’s nothing we should not do to save a soul, even if it means breaking the Law.

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Image credits: (1) Christianity.com (2) Gloryinthemorning.com (3) The Central Minnesota Catholic

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Gospel: Mark 1:29-39

On leaving the synagogue
Jesus entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John.
Simon’s mother-in-law lay sick with a fever.
They immediately told him about her.
He approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up.
Then the fever left her and she waited on them.

When it was evening, after sunset,
they brought to him all who were ill or possessed by demons.
The whole town was gathered at the door.
He cured many who were sick with various diseases,
and he drove out many demons,
not permitting them to speak because they knew him.

Rising very early before dawn, 
he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed.
Simon and those who were with him pursued him
and on finding him said, “Everyone is looking for you.”
He told them, “Let us go on to the nearby villages
that I may preach there also.
For this purpose have I come.”
So he went into their synagogues, preaching and driving out demons 
throughout the whole of Galilee.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Today’s Gospel describes a full day in the life of Jesus.

We begin mid-morning. Jesus leaves the synagogue, having just cast out an unclean spirit – his first public miracle in Mark’s Gospel. 

“After lunch,” he enters Simon Peter’s home, where he heals Simon’s mother-in-law who is deathly ill. Then word spreads fast enough for crowds to start gathering around him, so the Lord continues his healing work well after sunset.

I’d imagine by the end of the night, he was exhausted.

But the Gospel tells us that the next morning he rose, “very early before dawn,” where he went off on his own to a deserted place to pray. I’d imagine Jesus began each day that way – up early in prayer.

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Prayer is also meant to sustain our own spiritual lives.

The Lord reminds us the best time to do it is “very early before dawn,” before the stress, demands, and weight of other commitments compete for our time. It’s like having a spiritual cup of coffee.

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Like the Lord, have I tried praying, “very early before dawn?” And what is my prayer life like?

Often it changes over time. Some weeks, even months or longer, might be spent in silence; other moments can be filled with scripture study, spiritual reading, uplifting music, journaling, or heart-to-heart sharing with the Lord.

Over time, a certain peace settles in which cannot be taken away, leading us to discover what the Lord models for us today – prayer is our deepest source of strength. 

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Take a moment of silence now. Allow the Lord to “fill your cup” with grace so that you might know, love, and do his will today.

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Image credits: (1) A Day in the Life of Jesus, YouTube (2) Jesus Heals Peter’s Mother-in-Law, John Bridges (3) Chmeetings

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Mark: 1: 21-28

Jesus came to Capernaum with his followers, 
and on the sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught.
The people were astonished at his teaching,
for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.
In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit;
he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?
Have you come to destroy us?
I know who you are–the Holy One of God!” 
Jesus rebuked him and said, “Quiet!  Come out of him!”
The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him.
All were amazed and asked one another,
 “What is this?
A new teaching with authority.
He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him.”
His fame spread everywhere throughout the whole region of Galilee.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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When I think of a sacred space, I think of this church. The life-sized crucifix suspended over the altar. This pulpit. The Saints and the Stations of the Cross that line the wall of our church.

Sacred spaces are filled with holy things that point us to God.

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In today’s Gospel, there’s a man with an unclean spirit present in the synagogue. The synagogue is a holy place, so why is he there?

Surely, this man doesn’t belong.  

Or does he?

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I imagine him to be a conflicted man, both a sinner and a believer – a man who knew he was under the power of something stronger than himself.

Perhaps he showed up in the synagogue that day hoping to be set free.

As soon as the Lord lays eyes on him, Jesus says to the evil spirit holding him captive, “Quiet! Come out of him!”

Suddenly, the struggle is over. This man is set free.

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This is the first miracle that Jesus performs in Mark’s Gospel, amplifying the meaning of it. Perhaps Mark uses this man as an image for all of us. 

Every person struggles with something – a particular sin, a lingering weakness, a wound in need of healing. 

The best place to find what we’re looking for is in the house of God, or in the grace-filled silence of prayer.

As the Lord later says, “I have come that they may have life in abundance.” Not only the man in the temple, but all who believe in Him who has come to set us free.

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Image credits: (1) Christ Pantocrator, Mount Sinai (2) GospelImages.com (3) Pinterest