By Aldo Brandon Vibi csc –
Readings: Heb 3:7-14; Mk 1:40-45
“God choose everyone to heal someone”. God chose simple people from every corner of the world to heal the sick. The faithful would flock to pilgrimage centers of Mother Mary and other saints to heal their differently abled children, to ask for grace to begin a good business and for overall progress in life.
The pilgrims have great faith in the Lord and their intentions are fulfilled. In the Gospel reading, a leper came to Jesus and said, “If you choose to, you can make me clean.” This sentence reveals that he had approached many people, and no one could help. But Jesus answered, “I do choose, be made clean.” Today, amidst the pandemic, people need inner healing, God does choose everyone to cure someone. Are we ready to be an instrument of Christ?
In families, hardworking parents are neglected. Sometimes, relatives are not compassionate listeners. Those who toil hard are pushed to earn more. God wants us to be a channel to hear the cry of others and many of us are not formed. This passage teaches another important lesson too. When someone understands us and hears our problem, we are happy that we have received God’s grace through that person.
But sometimes people would hold on to that person as a source of their life. People would believe that person as God. Jesus, after healing the leper, said that he show himself to the priest, that one is healed now and can begin to live a new life. The life of leper tells us that when we are healed, we have to become an instrument of healing. Am I an instrument of healing today?