In today’s gospel, we see a man with leprosy seeking Jesus. A man who was considered unclean took courage and prostrated himself at the feet of Jesus. We do not know what expectations he had of this encounter with a man whom he did not know. Perhaps, he had only heard about the previous miracle Jesus had performed at the Sea of Galilee. Whatever he knew of Jesus was enough for him to try one more time to be healed. This man had nothing left to lose, to the point where he did not mind completely surrendering at the feet of an unknown man and boldly asking him to be made clean. His last resort for healing was complete surrender.

What posture do we take when we have nothing else to hope for? There are many moments in our lives where despair becomes our way of living. In these moments, we take many responses and actions. We try to “put in the work” and try harder, or we attempt to control what is around us to make sure that our expectations are met. But what happens when our circumstances go beyond us and our human limitations?

Today’s gospel is an invitation to seek Jesus in a new way. Every encounter has the power to transform whatever challenge or burden is before us. Jesus stretches out his hand and desires to make us clean again. This reading invites us to take every opportunity we have to find ourselves where he can reach us. That might mean opening up the parts in our hearts that hurt, spending more time in prayer, or attending daily Mass.

As we enter into this new year, let us rejoice in the fact that Jesus desires to encounter us—even in the darkest places—and stretches out his hand to meet us where we are. He desires to make us new.