Word to the Wise
Thursday, January 14, 2016 - Thursday in the 1st Week in Ordinary Time
[1 Sam 4:1-11 and Mark 1:40-45]THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2016 THURSDAY IN THE FIRST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME [1 Samuel 4:1-11 and Mark 1:40-45] 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 the leper, and said to him, "I do will it. Be made clean." the leprosy left him immediately. [Mark] There's an old expression, "No good deed goes unpunished!" We see that at work in the story today of Jesus and the leper. It is clear that Jesus acts to heal the leper out of pity. But he also orders the leper not to advertise the fact, an order which the leper promptly ignores. (Could you keep it a secret?) The result is that Jesus' fame means the loss of privacy and could attract attention from suspicious authorities. Scripture scholars point out that the Gospel of Mark has an agenda which is called, "the Messianic secret." Jesus' real identity is not in miracles and teachings but in his cross and resurrection. The disciples have a tough time understanding Jesus until those two last events. Perhaps we may have the same problem. It might be easier to just focus on the miracles, etc. and ignore the unpleasant reality of the cross. But the symbol of Christianity is not a healed leper but a cross. AMEN
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