Friday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time
Last weekend we were visiting family in Pennsylvania and attended a small parish for Sunday mass. As you may recall from Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus is sleeping through a storm at sea when his disciples wake him up, asking, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” We’ve heard that story many times and can understand, and perhaps even empathize with, the disciples’ distress. The way the priest read the passage last weekend, though, made it obvious that the disciples were not waking Jesus up because they necessarily expected him to do something about the storm and prevent them from perishing. They were instead waking Jesus up because they were freaking out and couldn’t understand why he wasn’t freaking out. How could he rest so peacefully during such a violent storm rather than be frightened, like everyone else? When we, in the year 2021, know Jesus as the Son of God, it is easy to forget that his disciples initially knew him as a human, as a friend.
Reading today’s Gospel in light of the story from last Sunday, makes today’s passage about the leper seem even more profound. Even when Jesus’ own disciples did not recognize him as one with the power to calm the storm, the leper in a great crowd, immediately recognized God in the person of Jesus Christ. The leper’s simple and straightforward statement, “Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean,” acknowledges Jesus’ power and true identity. The leper exemplifies true faith in God. He acknowledges Jesus Christ is Lord.
Scripture provides such a gift for us to understand Jesus’ life, but even with this gift, do we recognize God’s power to cleanse our hearts today? Do we, in our own time, recognize the true presence of Jesus in the Eucharist? Paraphrasing from our psalm today, do we see how the Lord blesses those who have faith in the awesome wonders of our God? I hear a song on the radio regularly by Lincoln Brewster titled, There is Power. The chorus and bridge are a good reflection on this sentiment:
There is power
In the name of Jesus
There is power
Power in His name
One name, one name can save
One name, breaks every chain
One name, always
One name, Jesus
One name, one name remains
One name, we will proclaim
One name, always
One name
The leper knew this; his faith compelled him to believe in the divinity and power of Jesus. Let us take some time today to consider our own faith and trust in the Lord.
Abundant Blessings,
Brandon & LeeAnn Meyer