Mark 1:40-45

1 Samuel 4:1-11

Psalm 44:10-11, 14-15, 24-25

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, and he was made clean.

Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once.

Then 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.

Opening Prayer: Lord, I need to hear your message of mercy over and over again. I can be stubborn and refuse to be merciful. But when I contemplate your love I see that you are always ready to forgive. Help me to do the same.

Encountering the Word of God

1. The Ark of the Lord: After the death of the judge of Israel, Samson, there was no warrior to take up Israel’s fight against the Philistines. Today’s First Reading tells us about two battles Israel lost against the Philistines. After the first defeat, Israel attempted to use the Ark of the Covenant to bring them victory in the second battle. In the past, the Ark was a devastating weapon against Israel’s enemies. This time, however, Israel uses the Ark without consulting the Lord through Eli the high priest. By taking the Ark into battle without God’s permission, Israel acted presumptuously. The Ark was captured and Eli’s two priest sons, Hophni and Phineas, were killed. This event was part of the fulfillment of the prophecy about the downfall of Eli’s priestly line (1 Samuel 2:34). When Eli hears about the death of his sons and the capture of the Ark, he falls over and dies (1 Samuel 4:18).

2. The Mercy Seat: The Ark of the Lord was shaped like a box and had a lid overshadowed by two carved cherubim. This golden lid was called the “mercy seat” or “place of expiation.” Once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the high priest would enter the Holy of Holies and sprinkle blood on the mercy seat to expiate the sins of the people and restore them to fellowship with God (Leviticus 16:1-34). In his Letter to the Romans, Paul identifies Jesus as the mercy seat and the expiation for our sins (Romans 3:25). Jesus is the living seat of God’s presence and the place where atonement is truly made. 

3. Jesus was Moved with Pity: The Ark was a symbol of God’s mercy. Jesus is the very incarnation of God’s mercy. We see that his heart was moved with pity at the sight of the leper. Jesus saw the pain and suffering the leper endured from the disease and the suffering he endured from being separated from the community. Jesus touches the leper and is not rendered unclean. The reverse happens. The leper is made clean and can be restored to the community of Israel. The irony is that because the leper publicizes the healing, Jesus can no longer go about openly. In this way, Jesus takes upon himself the leper’s previous state. While the leper goes about freely, Jesus has to remain in deserted places to avoid being mobbed by the people.

Conversing with Christ: Your heart was moved with pity when you saw the leper and his suffering. Your heart is moved with pity when you see me. I have experienced the tender gaze of your love. Help me to be an agent of your mercy and pity today.

Resolution: Jesus’ invitation to the leper is also addressed to us: Go, show yourself to the priest. We do this especially in the sacrament of Reconciliation when we open our hearts to God and show the state of our soul to his minister. Through this sacrament, we can be healed and restored to the Christian community. Through this sacrament, we are sprinkled with the blood of Christ and washed clean! Let us approach this sacrament with a humble and grateful heart.