Mark 1: 40-45
A leper came to Jesus begging him, and kneeling he said to him, “If you choose, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, “I do choose. Be made clean!” Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. After sternly warning him he sent him away at once, saying to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” But he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the word, so that Jesus could no longer go into a town openly, but stayed out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter.
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
Power of God’s Love
In his message to the cardinals of the world during the consistory last week in Rome, Pope Leo XIV emphasized that “Christ draws all to himself by the power of his love.” In today’s Gospel, Jesus’ healing love attracts the leper, who, in turn, begins proclaiming Jesus because he is so overwhelmed by this love. As a result, Jesus becomes so popular that he needs to seek deserted places so as not to be overwhelmed.
We too are like the leper, drawn by the power of God’s love. And while we might not go about “spreading the report abroad” as the leper did, it might be helpful today to recall a moment when we intimately felt God’s love for us. Let us also remember that God never ceases to work for our salvation. Attractive indeed.
—Rev. Paul J. Shelton, SJ, is the provincial assistant for vocations for the Midwest Jesuits. If you are interested in becoming a Jesuit or know a young man who would be a good Jesuit, please visit beajesuit.org.
Prayer
Look, O Mary, upon so many sons and daughters whose hope has not been extinguished: may what your Son has sown in them take root and grow, He, the living Word, who in each person asks to grow still more, to take on flesh, face, and voice. May Jubilee hope blossom in Rome and in every corner of the earth, hope in the new world God is preparing, of which you, O Virgin, are like the bud and the dawn.
After the holy doors, may other doors now open, doors of homes and oases of peace where dignity may flourish again, where people may learn nonviolence and the art of reconciliation.
—Pope Leo XIV, Act of Veneration to the Immaculate Conception at the Spanish Steps, December 8, 2025
Pray with the Pope
Pray with the monthly prayer intentions of the pope.