JESUS CANNOT RESIST OUR SUBMISSION
There
were so many people who were sick and were in need when Jesus was
walking through Palestine during His public ministry. God though He was,
He did not cure all. He did not hold a huge healing crusade and He did
not go from north to south on a healing tour. Had He done so, He would
have converted the whole of Palestine, the whole of the Roman Empire and
the world.
First, our Lord Jesus wanted to emphasize that this earth is not our
utopia. The fulfillment of the Kingdom of God is not here, but in
another life. Likewise, Jesus wanted to show that God’s power did not
work in an automatic way, disregarding human choice and freedom. God
does not supplant our humanity. Out of love, God initiates but we have
to welcome Him and open up to His invitation.
The poor leper in today’s Gospel could have attracted Jesus’ attention
by His unique way of coming up to Jesus. He said: “Lord, if You will,
You can make me clean.” This is humility. The Book of Sirach (25:2)
states that not all people who are sick or poor or needy are
automatically humble. There is “a beggar who is proud.” But the words of
the leper reveal not only a humble beggar. They reveal a person fully
submitted to God’s will. Again, the leper said to Jesus: “Lord, if You
will, You can make me clean.” He had a disposition that was very much
like Jesus who says before the Father:
“Not My will, but Your will be done.” No wonder, the leper’s prayer was
irresistible for Jesus. Fr. Domie Guzman, SSP
REFLECTION
QUESTIONS: Try to examine how you pray. Which one describes your
prayer: prayer with expectant faith, prayer with insistent faith, or
prayer with resignation? Which kinds of situations make you struggle
with accepting?
Help me to trust You so much, Lord, that I will always seek that Your will be done.
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