Thursday of the First Week in Ordinary Time
“A leper came to Jesus and kneeling down begged him and said, ‘If you wish, you can make me clean.’”
This seemingly simple statement of the leper to the Lord presents several possibilities for profound, prayerful contemplation. First, the leper approaches the Lord to ask for a favor that he knows he cannot accomplish on his own. The leper acknowledges his utter powerlessness to heal himself. At the same time, however, he professes his firm belief in the fact that Jesus does have this ability and can do for him that which he cannot do for himself. He has come as creature to ask his Creator to make him whole.
The response of Jesus is beautiful and profound. He tells the leper, “I do will it. Be made clean.” It is as if Jesus says to the man, “I do will for you to be whole and to enjoy the fullness of life for which you have been created. I do will your highest good and happiness, and I desire to give you all that you have asked and more.” Note also that while Jesus desires to heal this man and restore him to fullness of spiritual and physical health, the Lord waited for the man to ask. God does not force Himself on us. He desires loving relationship with us and desires to restore us each to the fullness of health, fullness, and friendship with Him in every possible way. But we have to ask.