"If You Wish, You Can Make Me Clean" by Carson
Hello, today I'm going to write a short blogpost on my thoughts about a Gospel passage some of you might remember hearing recently at Mass, the story of one of the many lepers Jesus healed. Here it is, from the Gospel of Mark:
A leper came to Jesus 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.
Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once.
He said to him, “See that you tell no one anything,
but go, show yourself to the priest
and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed;
that will be proof for them.”
The man went away and began to publicize the whole matter.
He spread the report abroad
so that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly.
He remained outside in deserted places,
and people kept coming to him from everywhere.
Mark 1:40-45
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.
Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once.
He said to him, “See that you tell no one anything,
but go, show yourself to the priest
and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed;
that will be proof for them.”
The man went away and began to publicize the whole matter.
He spread the report abroad
so that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly.
He remained outside in deserted places,
and people kept coming to him from everywhere.
Mark 1:40-45
As my family and I listened to this during Mass, my first thoughts were about the leper's humility. His first words (after falling on his knees) were not a command to Jesus, such as "Heal me, Lord!" but instead, he lets Jesus know that he knows of his infinite power by humbly saying, "If you wish, you can make me clean."
I know I catch myself commanding Jesus in my prayers, even if it is politely. "Jesus, please heal this person." or "Jesus, give me... (fill in the blank)." The leper helps me realize that Jesus knows what we need and we only need to show him our faith in Him, and if we are going to ask, to ask in a humble way, not in a way as if we're entitled to His healing and love.
Lastly, it seems to me that the Leper was so overcome with joy that maybe he forgot the last part of Jesus' instructions! It's crazy to think this is how our attitude should be after we are healed of our sins. If we're going to disobey Jesus*, at least let it be because we are so overcome with joy with what he's done for us! I know I'll try to show some more gratefulness and joy to Jesus for what He's done for me.
Well, that's my synopsis of it anyway. Either way, I think it's probably pretty important to enter into this Lent seeking humility if we want to get anything out of it. God's not going to heal us if we don't let him, I guess. I definitely need a lot of improvement in this area, so I'll be working on being humble this Lent, as well as being grateful for all the things God has blessed me with, which I take for granted. Have a blessed rest of your Lent!
-Carson!
*Don't disobey Jesus. I was just saying.
