SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
(Green) Cycle B/Year II (February 11, 2018)
Lv 13:1-2, 44-46/1Cor 10:31-11:1/Mk 1:40-45
“A man with leprosy came to Jesus and begged Him on his knees: ‘If you are willing, you can make me clean.’ Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man: ‘I am willing”, He said, “Be clean!’” (Mk 1:40-41). Jesus Christ would preach from one place to another and a lot of sick people would flock to Him asking for healing. Just like in the gospel this Sunday, Jesus could not decline the request of the needy person. In this case, He healed the man with leprosy.
If we are to examine the life of Jesus, especially His public ministry, we can say that His life was a life of total service to others. He was always helping the people. He fed the hungry, He instructed the ignorant, He cured the blind, the leper and many other sick people, and He performed a lot of miracles in order to help the needy. It would seem that the mission of Jesus Christ was to help the needy. He was always compassionate to the needy people.
To help the needy selflessly is a concrete act of love. It is actually a divine love at work in us. God uses us in order to share His love with others especially the needy. Jesus cannot be present in this world the way He was 2,000 years ago. He has ascended already into heavens.
But He has never left His people. He has left us with His Church founded on the Apostles together with her sacraments especially the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist to make us feel His loving presence. Moreover, He has left us Christians with the mission of loving God and our neighbor. Such love is made concrete when we do charitable activities to the needy.
Jesus Christ was always charitable to the needy as a proof of God’s faithfulness to His people. As Christians, we must imitate Jesus Christ in His love and service to the needy. We cannot close our eyes and ears to the suffering of the people around us.
There are a lot of people who need help – the street people, the beggars, the sick, the imprisoned, the victims of injustice, war and famine, the uneducated, the poor, etc. It is our fundamental obligation as Christians to reach out to these people the way Jesus did. It is necessary for us to help them otherwise we are unfaithful to our Christian faith.
Let us ask the intercession of Mary, our Mother of Perpetual Help. Upon learning that her cousin Elizabeth was in need of help, she rushed walking towards her house for some days to help her cousin for three months. She did not deem about her dignity as the Mother of God; she was always disposed to help the needy. The same thing happened in the wedding at Cana.
When she knew that the couple had run out of wine, in order to save them from public embarrassment, she requested Jesus to reach out to them. It was the very first miracle performed by Jesus and this because of the request of His mother: the turning of water into wine. As we try to live the virtue of charity, let us ask her maternal intercession that we may be like her and her Son Jesus, always disposed to help the needy with selfless generosity.
