Jan 12, 2006

Mk 1:40-45 A leper came to him and kneeling down begged him and said,“If you wish, you can make me clean.”Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand,touched the leper, 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. Then 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.
I wonder why a person who had the miracle of being healed would not listen to the request of the one who healed them. It seems a contradiction that the healed leper would tell everyone yet part of human nature to want to share what happened. Jesus also instructed the leper to show himself to the priest and offer what Moses prescribed for cleansing that will be proof for them. The reading does not tell if the cleansed leper presented himself to the priest at all. I have the feeling that in the excitement of having been cleansed the leper forgot all of the instructions from Jesus. I think part of the message in the reading is to offer ourselves to God in gratitude for healing for all healing comes from God.