JANUARY 10, 2020 : FRIDAY AFTER EPIPHANY

Friday after Epiphany
Lectionary: 216

Reading 11 JN 5:5-13

Beloved:
Who indeed is the victor over the world
but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
This is the one who came through water and Blood, Jesus Christ,
not by water alone, but by water and Blood.

The Spirit is the one who testifies,
and the Spirit is truth.
So there are three who testify,
the Spirit, the water, and the Blood,
and the three are of one accord.
If we accept human testimony,
the testimony of God is surely greater.
Now the testimony of God is this,
that he has testified on behalf of his Son.
Whoever believes in the Son of God
has this testimony within himself.
Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar
by not believing the testimony God has given about his Son.
And this is the testimony:
God gave us eternal life,
and this life is in his Son.
Whoever possesses the Son has life;
whoever does not possess the Son of God does not have life.

I write these things to you so that you may know
that you have eternal life,
you who believe in the name of the Son of God.

Responsorial PsalmPS 147:12-13, 14-15, 19-20

R. (12a)  Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Glorify the LORD, O Jerusalem;
praise your God, O Zion.
For he has strengthened the bars of your gates;
he has blessed your children within you.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He has granted peace in your borders;
with the best of wheat he fills you.
He sends forth his command to the earth;
swiftly runs his word!
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He has proclaimed his word to Jacob,
his statutes and his ordinances to Israel.
He has not done thus for any other nation;
his ordinances he has not made known to them. Alleluia.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
or:
R. Alleluia.

AlleluiaMT 4:23

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Jesus proclaimed the Gospel of the Kingdom
and cured every disease among the people.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

GospelLK 5:12-16

It happened that there was a man full of leprosy in one of the towns where Jesus was;
and when he saw Jesus,
he fell prostrate, pleaded with him, and said,
“Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.”
Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and said,
“I do will it.  Be made clean.”
And the leprosy left him immediately.
Then he ordered him not to tell anyone, but
“Go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing
what Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them.”
The report about him spread all the more,
and great crowds assembled to listen to him
and to be cured of their ailments,
but he would withdraw to deserted places to pray.

www.usccb.org

Meditation: "Lord, you can make me clean"

Do you seek the Lord Jesus with expectant faith? No one who sought Jesus out was refused his help. Even the untouchables and the outcasts of Jewish society found help in him. Unlike the people of Jesus' time who fled at the sight of a leper, Jesus touched the leper who approached him and he made him whole and clean. Why was this so remarkable? Lepers were outcasts of society. They were driven from their homes and communities and left to fend for themselves. Their physical condition was terrible as they slowly lost the use of their limbs and withered away. They were not only shunned but regarded as "already dead" even by their relatives. The Jewish law forbade anyone from touching or approaching a leper, lest ritual defilement occur.

This leper did something quite remarkable. He approached Jesus confidently and humbly, expecting that Jesus could and would heal him. Normally a leper would be stoned or at least warded off if he tried to come near a rabbi. Jesus not only grants the man his request, but he demonstrates the personal love, compassion, and tenderness of God in his physical touch. The medical knowledge of his day would have regarded such contact as grave risk for incurring infection. Jesus met the man's misery with compassion and tender kindness. He communicated the love and mercy of God in a sign that spoke more eloquently than words. He touched the man and made him clean - not only physically but spiritually as well.

How do you approach those who seem difficult to love, or who are shunned by others because they are deformed or have some physical or mental weakness? Do you show them kindness and offer them mercy and help as Jesus did? The Lord Jesus is always ready to show us his mercy and to free us from whatever makes us unclean, unapproachable, or unloving.

Lord Jesus, inflame my heart with your love and make me clean and whole in body, mind, and spirit. May I never doubt your love nor cease to tell others of your mercy and compassion."

Daily Quote from the early church fathers: Jesus' healing demonstrates the power of the kingdom of heaven, by Ambrose of Milan, 339-397 A.D.

"The authority of power in the Lord is here compared with the steadfastness of faith manifest in the leper (Luke 5:12-13). He fell on his face because it is a mark of humility and modesty that each feel shame for the sins of his life, but shyness did not restrict his confession. He showed the wound, he begged for the remedy, and the very confession is full of piety and faith. 'If you will,' it says, 'you can make me clean'” He conceded the power to the Lord's will. But he doubted concerning the Lord's will, not as if unbelieving in piety, but as if aware of his own impurity, he did not presume. The Lord replies to him with a certain holiness. 'I will: be clean. And immediately the leprosy departed from him.' For there is nothing between God's command and his work, because the work is in the command. Thus he spoke, and they came into being (Psalm 33:9). You see that it cannot be doubted that the will of God is power. If, therefore, his will is power, those who affirm that the Trinity is of One will affirm that it is of one power. Thus the leprosy departed immediately. In order that you may understand the effect of healing, he added truth to the work." (excerpt from EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 5.2–3)

www.dailyscripture.net

FRIDAY, JANUARY 10, LUKE 5:12-16
Christmas Weekday
(1 John 5:5-13; Psalm 147)
KEY VERSE: "I do will it. Be made clean" (v. 13).
TO KNOW: After Jesus announced his mission to the poor and suffering (Lk 4:18-19), he acted upon his words by healing a leper who begged to be made clean. Leprosy included a variety of skin diseases (and even household mold), but the disfiguring leprosy (Hansen's disease) was thought to be incurable. This leprosy was regarded as a living death, a scourge sent from God as punishment for sin. The leper was regarded as an outcast, separated from the community and denied access to temple worship. Although touching a leper made one "unclean," Jesus reached out to cure the man with his healing touch. Jesus then sent the man to the priest who alone could pronounce him healed and fit to return to society (Lv. 14:2-3a). Jesus' fame spread throughout the region, and great crowds gathered to hear him preach and to be healed of their afflictions. After an exhausting day, Jesus found it necessary to renew himself, and he withdrew to a deserted place to pray.
TO LOVE: Who in my community needs my healing touch?
TO SERVE: Lord Jesus, cleanse me of my sins and restore me to the fullness of life.

www.togetherwithgodsword.com

Friday 10 January 2020

1 John 5:5-13. Psalm 147:12-15, 19-20. Luke 5:12-16.
Praise the Lord, Jerusalem – Psalm 147:12-15, 19-20
The leper’s belief in God’s will heals him.

Good things come to those who believe in him, praise him and trust him. Today’s readings remind us that every blessing, hope and joy comes to us through Christ. We must praise him always because it’s through him we find our salvation.

In today’s Gospel, we read of the healing of the leper. The leper’s belief in God’s will heals him. The lepers act of faith is a courageous act. Trusting God’s will is not for the meek. The leper humbly pleads and asks for healing. It’s his unwavering faith that cures him.

Father, we pray that we may have faith in your Holy will, trusting all aspect of ourselves, our loved ones and our lives to you. Through our faith, you will be able to heal those parts of us that long for your grace.

www.pray.com.au

Saint Gregory of Nyssa

Saint of the Day for January 10

(c. 335 – 395)

 

Mosaic of Saint Gregory of Nyssa, Hosios Loukas Monastery, Boeotia, Greece | Anonymous

Saint Gregory of Nyssa’s Story

The son of two saints, Basil and Emmilia, young Gregory was raised by his older brother, Saint Basil the Great, and his sister, Macrina, in modern-day Turkey. Gregory’s success in his studies suggested great things were ahead for him. After becoming a professor of rhetoric, he was persuaded to devote his learning and efforts to the Church. By then married, Gregory went on to study for the priesthood and become ordained (this at a time when celibacy was not a matter of law for priests).

He was elected Bishop of Nyssa in 372, a period of great tension over the Arian heresy, which denied the divinity of Christ. Briefly arrested after being falsely accused of embezzling Church funds, Gregory was restored to his see in 378, an act met with great joy by his people.

It was after the death of his beloved brother, Basil, that Gregory really came into his own. He wrote with great effectiveness against Arianism and other questionable doctrines, gaining a reputation as a defender of orthodoxy. He was sent on missions to counter other heresies and held a position of prominence at the Council of Constantinople. His fine reputation stayed with him for the remainder of his life, but over the centuries it gradually declined as the authorship of his writings became less and less certain. But, thanks to the work of scholars in the 20th century, his stature is once again appreciated. Indeed, Saint Gregory of Nyssa is seen not simply as a pillar of orthodoxy but as one of the great contributors to the mystical tradition in Christian spirituality and to monasticism itself.

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Reflection

Orthodoxy is a word that can raise red flags in our minds. To some people it may connote rigid attitudes that make no room for honest differences of opinion. But it might just as well suggest something else: faith that has settled deep in one’s bones. Gregory’s faith was like that. So deeply embedded was his faith in Jesus that he knew the divinity that Arianism denied. When we resist something offered as truth without knowing exactly why, it may be because our faith has settled in our bones.

https://www.franciscanmedia.org/

Lectio Divina: Luke 5:12-16

Lectio Divina

Friday, January 10, 2020

1) Opening prayer

All-powerful Father,
You have made known the birth of the Savior
by the light of a star.
May He continue to guide us with the light,
for He lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

2) Gospel Reading - Luke 5:12-16

It happened that there was a man full of leprosy in one of the towns where Jesus was; and when he saw Jesus, he fell prostrate, pleaded with him, and said, "Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean." Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, "I do will it. Be made clean." And the leprosy left him immediately. Then he ordered him not to tell anyone, but "Go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them." The report about him spread all the more, and great crowds assembled to listen to him and to be cured of their ailments, but he would withdraw to deserted places to pray.

3) Reflection

• A leper came close to Jesus. He had to live far away from others, because whoever touched him remained impure! But that leper had great courage. He transgressed the norms of religion so as to be able to get close to Jesus. He said, “Sir, if You want, You can heal me!”That is to say, “It is not necessary for You to touch me.” It is sufficient for the Lord to want it, and He cured him! The sentence reveals two evils: a) the evil of leprosy which renders him impure; b) the evil of isolation, to which he was condemned by society and by religion. This also reveals the man’s great faith in the power of Jesus. Jesus, profoundly moved, heals him from both evils! In the first place, to cure the isolation, He touches the leper. It is as if He said, “For Me you are not excluded. I accept you as a brother!” And then He cures the leper saying, "I do will it. Be made clean."
• The leper, in order to be able to enter in contact with Jesus, had transgressed the norms of the law. Jesus also, in order to be able to help that excluded man and reveal to him a new face of God, transgresses the norms of His religion and touches the leper. At that time, whoever touched a leper became impure according to the religious authority and by the law of the time.
• Jesus, not only cures, but also wants the cured person to be able to live with others. He once again inserts the person in society so that he can live together with others. At that time for a leper to be accepted again in the community, he needed a certificate from a priest, that he had been cured. It is the same today. The sick person leaves the hospital having a document signed by the doctor. Jesus obliges the person to go and look for the document, so that he can live normally with the others. He obliges the authority to recognize that this man has been cured.
• Jesus forbids the leper to speak about the healing. The Gospel of Mark informs us that this prohibition was not effective and went unheeded. The leper went away, but then started freely proclaiming and telling the story everywhere, so that Jesus could no longer go openly into any town, but stayed outside in deserted places (Mk 1:45) Why?  Jesus had touched a leper. For this reason, according to the opinion of the religion of the time, now He Himself was impure and should be far away from everybody. He could no longer enter into the cities.  Mark says that the people did not care at all about these official norms, in fact, people came to Him from all parts (Mk 1:45).
• The two-fold message which Luke and Mark give the community of their time and to all of us is the following: a) to announce the Good News means to give witness of the concrete experience that one has of Jesus. What does the leper announce? He tells the others the good that Jesus has done to him. That is all! All this! This is the witness which impels others to accept the Good News of God, that brought by Jesus. b) In order to take the Good News to people, it is necessary to not be afraid to transgress the religious norms which are contrary to God’s project and which render communication, dialogue and the lived experience of love difficult, even if this implies difficulty for the people, as happened with Jesus.

4) Personal questions

• In order to help the neighbor, Jesus transgresses the law of purity. In the Church today, are there any laws which render difficult or prevent the practice of love toward neighbor?
• In order to be cured, the leper had the courage to challenge the public opinion of his time. Do I have such courage?
• Do I treat the homeless on the street as a leper? Think of all the times. Do I reach out and hold a hand, or give a hug, or do I cross the street or pretend they aren't there?
• Jesus gave what the leper needed, not a donation or some money. When I am asked for help, do I take the time to give the help that is needed to “cure” the problem, or do I offer some token donation (if at all) and just keep walking?

5) Concluding prayer

Praise Yahweh, Jerusalem, Zion, praise your God.
For He gives strength to the bars of your gates,
He blesses your children within you. (Ps 147:12-13)

www.ocarm.org