The Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, February 14, 2021

Mark 1:40–45

A leper came to Jesus and kneeling down begged him and said, “If you wish, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched him, 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.  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.

Here are the essential elements of the prayer of intercession, that form of prayer in which we ask God for something for ourselves or for others.  First, “A leper came to Jesus.”  The one in need comes to the Lord Jesus for the cure of his terrible affliction.  So often we find ourselves in need and we respond by going into denial about it, or we assume that somehow it will take care of itself.  “And kneeling down begged him.”  We do not go before the Lord as an equal or as in any way deserving of his help.  We recognize him in our hearts as the omnipotent God.  “If you wish, you can make me clean.”  We make our plea to him with all the need and emotion we have.  We do not attempt to bargain with him, make a claim on our perceived merit, or flatter him.  We do not engage in flights of rhetoric.  Our prayer must be direct, simple, and from the heart.  St. Mark quotes the leper without any description or comment, but we should not imagine him as speaking to the Lord in the calm way it appears on the page.  This was a desperate man, sick, friendless, ashamed, hungry, homeless.  His prayer is made with tears and groans.  He hides nothing of his suffering, but comes to the Lord ad he is.  He most likely is calling out to him from a certain distance.  “The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean.”  The Lord shows his power in his reply.  The answer to our prayer may not be apparent at first, but in our prayer we accept the answer he will give us, in the manner and at the time he chooses to give it to us.

The exchange between this leper and the Lord teaches us something else.  The leper says, “If you wish, you can make me clean.”  “If you wish” is not quite right.  The Greek has, “If you desire” or, “If you will”.  The leper poses his need to Jesus not as a matter of his power, but as a matter of his will, as if to say, “Your will be done.”  It is an acknowledgment of the supremacy of the divine will over all things and people.  It is also a confession of faith that the Lord can do whatever he wills.  And, finally, it is a sign that the leper will accept what the Lord’s will is for him.  The Lord replies, “I do will it. Be made clean.”  The Lord’s words indicate that he has only waited for the leper to approach him and to make his request before curing him.  That is, the Lord had an even greater desire to cure the man than the man had of being cured.

“Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once.”  Jesus several times warns others against publicizing what he has done.  He will not accept testimony from just anyone.  Those whom he particularly warns he seems to regard as poor witnesses who would impede his work.  The Lord warns the demons he expels from telling people who he is — he will not be announced by them.  He also warns crowds who are only interested in a show of miracles not to tell about him because their stories will only attract others like themselves: people who will not listen to his teaching but who only want to see something novel.  In regards to this leper, we see how unreliable he is.  The Lord commands him to follow the law in regards to his cure, but he does not, and instead “he spread the report abroad”.  

We show ourselves as the Lord’s reliable witnesses by obeying his laws throughout our lives, and after praying for what we need, accepting his answer.