Daily Gospel Reflection
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January 13, 2022
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.
Reflection
Throughout the gospels, we learn of Jesus’ patience, kindness, empathy, and love. Healing the sick, restoring sight to the blind, feeding the hungry, and forgiving the sinner—all more magnificent than the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The way he lived paints a picture for all of us to admire.
In today’s reading, a leper dares to approach Jesus and begs him for help. Through his words, “If you wish, you can make me clean,” the leper showed his faith, and Jesus changed the course of his life. Like the leper, we do not need to perform miracles, but rather, we simply need to have faith in God and invite Jesus to work in and through our lives.
As human beings, we know that we do not possess the power to be miracle workers, but, like Mary, we can say yes to any miracle that Jesus will work through us. As we enter the freshness of this new year, a cleansing of the spiritual pallet of sorts can occur.
As Christians, let us engage this new course of life with minds filled with hope, hearts overflowing with love, and with ‘Leper-like’ faith-filled spirits. With God’s grace, may we enter each day as bright lights illuminating the world.
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
St. Hilary was hailed by the best minds of his age as an “illustrious” teacher and a “most eloquent man”—high praise from St. Augustine and St. Jerome, two of the greatest theologians the Church has ever known.
He lived in the fourth century and was born and raised in Gaul, what is now France. His family was not Christian, and Hilary came to the faith through intellectual study. His curiosity and reasoning led him to refute polytheism, and when he started seeking one God, he found Scripture. The story of Moses, where God’s identity is revealed as “I am who am,” captivated him, and he immersed himself in the other writings. He was baptized as an adult in his 30s.
Before his conversion, he was married and had a daughter, and his family followed him when the people chose him as bishop of Poitiers. He adamantly refused his selection out of humility, but that just made the people want him more.
As bishop, his learning served the people of his region, and the Church as a whole. He wrote a commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, which still exists, and was an effective orator and poet. He once said that it was the work of his life to use all of his gifts to announce God to the world. He encouraged people to begin and end every action with a prayer.
Hilary fearlessly sought and defended truth—an important quality during his age, which was marked by the Arian heresy, a strain of thought that distorted the nature of Jesus. Because of his opposition to this heresy, and the political forces behind it, he was cast into exile for three years. He departed from Poitiers with an attitude as though he were leaving for a vacation—he welcomed the dangers and hardships he would face and kept his attention focused on God alone.
During his exile, he continued to write; one of his most important works from that time was about the Trinity. The earliest hymns we have in the Latin tradition can be traced to Hilary.
When he was restored to Poitiers, he was welcomed with a great celebration among the people. He was known as a gentle and friendly man, but was unflinching when he faced those who obstinately opposed the true faith.
Hilary died in 368, and was declared a doctor of the Church, a title given to 37 saints who are known for elucidating the faith by their words or example. He is patron saint of children with disabilities, mothers, and sick people; his relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica.
St. Hilary of Poitiers, you are the doctor of the Church who is patron saint of children with disabilities, pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Hilary of Poitiers is in the public domain. Last accessed November 14, 2024 on Wikimedia Commons.
