January 14, 2010
Thursday of the First Week in Ordinary Time
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 him, and said to him, "I do will it. Be made clean." The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean. Mark 1:40-42
Piety
Litany of Humility
O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being loved, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being extolled, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being honored, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being praised, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being preferred to others, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being consulted, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being approved, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being humiliated, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being despised, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of suffering rebukes, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being calumniated, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being forgotten, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being ridiculed, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being wronged, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being suspected, Deliver me, Jesus.
That others may be loved more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be esteemed more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be chosen and I set aside, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be praised and I unnoticed, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be preferred to me in everything, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. Amen.
Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val (1865-1930),
Secretary of State for Pope Saint Pius X
Study
The Gospel of Mark is just concluding its first chapter and in the span of these 45 lines, we have a fairly complete summary of the main events in Jesus’ life and ministry up until the Passion. As a summary introduction, Mark the storyteller alludes to:
The Incarnation
Baptism/Annointed by God
Temptation in the Desert
Key Events of Public Ministry
Call of the Disciples
Driving out demons
Healing the sick
Preaching
The foundation of all these steps is frequent prayer, especially prayer time alone with God in a deserted place. Despite his warnings to keep these works quiet, “people kept coming to him from everywhere.”
Mark’s storytelling the hero-narrative of Jesus downplays the role of the powerful and gives prominence to the way each individual contributes to his or her healing. Some do it by showing their faith. Sometimes we see that before the miracle like the man with leprosy. Other times we see it afterward when they repay the healing with service like Peter’s mother-in-law.
To some degree, today’s pair of readings do not seem to fit together. But perhaps they are paired in order to contrast the different attitudes exhibited by the people and God’s different reaction to these approaches. In the Book of Samuel, the Hebrews try to use God to defeat their enemy – and the tactic does not succeed. While they did strike fear into the hearts of the Philistines, the Hebrews lost the battle even though they brought the ark of the covenant with them into their battle.
This goes further to emphasize the right relationship based upon humility that the man with leprosy has with the Lord. He shows his faith and puts himself into Jesus’ hands. “If you wish, you can make me clean.” Instead of inflicting his agenda on God, he puts himself at the mercy of God’s agenda.
Action
How can we move God to have pity on us? Life is not about what we wish for God to do like the Hebrews in the Old Testament. Jesus came to re-establish a mutually beneficial relationship with us. His preaching outlines what we are to do. His miraculous actions show us our reward when “thy kingdom comes.”
How can we show our humility as we approach God? God is not some mystical Santa Claus or wizard here to make our every wish come true. Instead, we encounter God in Mark’s Gospel as a people who are empowered to pick up their cross and act according to our faith.
