Lenton Devotion on Mark 1:40-45

Mark 1:40-45 And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. And Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once, and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them.” But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter.

Contracting leprosy was one of the most tragic things that could have happened to an individual in the ancient world. Whenever a leper was around other people, he was required to shout “unclean, unclean,” so passersby would know to keep their distance. A leper was required to live “alone, outside the camp,” so as to reduce the risk of transmitting his disease to others (Leviticus 13:45-46). To be a leper was to be isolated and humiliated perpetually. And then Jesus came and changed everything. One of the great beauties of the Gospels is how frequently they record Jesus’ interactions with lepers. He approached them and was approached by them. He treated them with respect and kindness. He even did the unthinkable: he touched them, and his touch made them clean. Jesus healed the lepers. Many biblical scholars have pointed out that there is an analogy between the physical condition of leprosy and the spiritual condition of sin. Sin in our hearts isolates us, both from God and from other people. Try as we might to hide it or remove it, the stain of sin remains present. Like Lady Macbeth, we try to wash away the stain of sin crying, “out damn’d spot,” all to no avail. We are unclean, and we know it. 

The good news of the gospel is that Jesus Christ is the contagiously clean man. When he touched a leper, Jesus did not contract leprosy. Rather, the leper became clean. Those trying in vain to remove their sin must allow themselves to be touched by the contagiously clean man. And, like the leper in the story, may we who have experienced that touch possess an uncontainable gratitude, talking freely about our encounter with the contagiously clean man. 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank you for your Son who makes clean everything he touches. By his grace may our hearts and our actions be touched by him this day and everyday. In Christ’s Name, Amen.

Peace and blessings!

Fr. Thierry


"For the vision is yet for the appointed time; It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; For it will certainly come, it will not delay”(Habakkuk 2:3).

Prayer-Work-Religion

When we read both the Epistle of James (James 1: 22-27) and the gospel (John 16: 23-33), we see a combination of prayer and work. On one hand, Jesus says “Ask and you shall receive that your joy may be full.” On the other hand, James says, “Be ye doers of the word and not hearers only.” Now, where is the connection?

The answer to this question is in another question: “what should we pray for"?  For money, for food, for clothes, for fame, or for prosperity? Our prayers should not be to ask for any of these things, “for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.” (Matthew 6: 32).

What then should we pray for? We should pray for the grace (favor), wisdom and guidance to do the will of God. When we operate under the favor or the grace of God, we will not miss the point of doing the will of God; our joy is full, and we are blessed in our work. And that’s the foundation of our religion.

Our life goes according to a certain cycle. So also goes our liturgy, our celebration of who God is. Remember, we worship as we believe, and we believe as we live and work.

The cycle or the pattern goes as follow: we come to the altar to offer “ourselves, our souls and bodies, to be a reasonable, holy, and living sacrifice unto the Father through the Son.”

We offer our confession, our supplications, our doubts, and what we have. We offer to God the best, but also the confusing image of us. What do we receive back? God gives us back his blessings, his grace, “that we may continue in that holy fellowship, and do all such good works as he had prepared for us to walk in”.

You see, we bring to God our distractions, our disorder and chaos; God takes this and brings forth the order and beauty of his new life in us.

And that’s what true religion is all about. That’s what Rogation Sunday is all about.

Let’s be reminded that a good harvest is still the product of dependence on God “from whom all good things do come”.

Peace and blessings!


Fr. Thierry




"For the vision is yet for the appointed time; It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; For it will certainly come, it will not delay” (Habakkuk 2:3).