Lord, if you want to, you can cure me

Gen. 17:1.9-10.15-22, Mt. 8:1-4. In today's first reading, God communicates with Abraham, telling him to be faithful and recommit himself to the covenant he made with God. He is to have all males circumcised, not only now but in all the generations to come. God promises to raise up many nations from Abraham and his wife (who is currently eighty-nine years old) and they will give birth to a son who will be the ancestor of many people of the covenant. Abraham recalls that God has previously promised to allow his offspring to become a blessing for, and a source of, many nations. Thus, he is complacent that his teenage son by Hagar be the means of such blessing. Abraham prostrated before God, yet in response he laughed within himself at the idea of his elderly wife having another son. God is clearly aware of this and God thus told Abraham that the son to be born will be named Isaac, which means “laughter”.

In the end, God fulfilled the promises He had made to His faithful servant, Abraham, above and beyond what He could and should have done. The promise of healing was also brought to the leper who came to Jesus in today's Gospel. The Lord cured the man and healed him of his leprosy and told him to follow what Moses had commanded on the matter of leprosy and being healed from it. At that time, the Lord did not want to reveal Himself and yet, He had pity and love for the leper. Lepers in antiquity were the great untouchables, because through touch, their disease could pass to other members of the community. The law demanded that lepers live apart, with only other lepers for company but Jesus did not hesitate to touch the leper. He did not fear to be contaminated by that outreach, rather, his touch would heal the leper. The man had approached Jesus with the very tentative request: “If you want to, you can cure me.” The story shows how Jesus does not hesitate to touch us, even the damaged parts of our lives. The Lord has no fear of being contaminated by us. He enters fully into the darker places of our experience, with His healing, life-giving presence. His concern for our well-being knows no barriers. The Lord wants to touch us just as we are, not as we should be or could be. However, we need to approach Him with trust, as the leper did: “Lord, if you want to, you can cure me.”

May the Lord help us to live out our faith with sincerity of heart and turn our sorrows into joy! Amen!! Good morning and have a glorious day!!!