Daily Gospel Reflection
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February 14, 2021
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.
“If you are willing, you can make me clean.” These are powerful words of faith by the leper in today’s Gospel. I think that by examining the leper’s words a little closer, he can show us a thing or two about faith.
“…you can make me clean.”
Let’s first look at the second part of the leper’s words. The leper is not asking if Jesus can heal him. Rather, he believes that Jesus can. It is not a question, but a statement. A profession of faith.
“If you are willing…”
What makes the leper’s words so powerful is how he begins. Before he declares his faith in Jesus’ healing powers, he first recognizes that the decision is entirely up to Jesus. As he kneels before Jesus, the leper is putting his total faith in Jesus. He has faith not only that he can be healed, but faith that Jesus will do what is best for him. Even if that means not healing his leprosy.
Often I have trouble with the second part of that equation. I pray for things I need, for things I want, for others. I think that if I pray hard enough or well enough, or have enough faith, then God will answer my prayers. But having faith is more than just believing that God can do something. It also involves the trust that God knows best for us. And sometimes that means trusting in God’s plan, even when things do not go according to our plan and our prayers seem to go unanswered.
Prayer
Protect us, Lord, from thinking that our healing depends on the strength and frequency of our prayers. Help us remember and proclaim to the world by our lives that through your Son you will it now and always that we be made and remain clean of heart and spirit. We make this prayer in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Saint of the Day
Valentine was a priest in third-century Rome who helped Christians who were being persecuted for their faith. One of the services he offered was to perform marriages for Christians during this persecution, which led to his patronage of young people, those in love, and happy marriages.
Valentine was discovered and arrested. Authorities threatened him with torture unless he renounced his faith. He refused and was beaten with clubs, then beheaded. He died on this date in the year 269.
Legend has it that before he was beheaded, he converted his jail guard by healing the man’s daughter, restoring sight to her and writing her a note, which he signed, “From your Valentine.” In the Middle Ages, his feast was connected with the tradition of courtly love.
Much of his story is unreliable, so the official calendar for liturgy for the universal Church uses this date to commemorate Sts. Cyril and Methodius. St. Valentine still remains on the calendar for local veneration in Rome, however.
Archeologists have uncovered a Roman catacomb and church that was built in memory of St. Valentine. He was remembered with great honor by early Christians, and was included in the saints recalled in the Mass in some places. Relics of St. Valentine rest in the reliquary chapel of the Basilica.
Visit our prayercards page to find a prayer for Valentine's Day from campus, as well as a prayer to St. Valentine for married couples.
St. Valentine, patron of young people, those in love, and happy marriages, pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Valentine is available for use under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Last accessed December 5, 2024 on Wikimedia Commons.
