THURSDAY OF THE FIRST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME - Gospel - (Mk 1:40-45) - THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE

“A leper came to him and kneeling down begged him and said, 'If you wish, you can make me clean.'” (Mk 1:40)

FIRST READING - 3:7-14

A reading from the letter of St. Paul to the Hebrews

The Holy Spirit says:

Oh, that today you would hear his voice,

“Harden not your hearts as at the rebellion

in the day of testing in the desert,

where your ancestors tested and tried me

and saw my works for forty years.

Because of this I was provoked with that generation

and I said, ‘They have always been of erring heart,

and they do not know my ways.’

As I swore in my wrath,

‘They shall not enter into my rest.’”

Take care, brothers and sisters,

that none of you may have an evil and unfaithful heart,

so as to forsake the living God.

Encourage yourselves daily while it is still “today,”

so that none of you may grow hardened by the deceit of sin.

We have become partners of Christ

if only we hold the beginning of the reality firm until the end.

GOSPEL OF THE DAY - Mark 1:40-45

From the Gospel according to Mark

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.

THURSDAY OF THE FIRST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME - Gospel - (Mk 1:40-45)

THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE

The Word of God for Everyone

Dear People of God,

Today's Word of God tells all mankind about a man with leprosy.

This disease has caused humankind to distance ourselves from each other, and to not love one another, which is not pleasing to God the Father.

Humanity has separated ourselves from God's love. But in His heart, all mankind are beautiful people created by God the Father. Except for those who oppose God, and follow the path of Satan, those souls displease God the Father.

The Word of God in today's Gospel talks about a leper who was shunned by the world. It is a defiled physical disease that has caused humans to no longer love one another. But before God's loving heart, the leper lived a life pleasing to God, as he dared to overcome all difficulties, challenges, and opposition to run to Jesus, and say: "Have mercy on me; If you wish, you can make me clean."

God's loving heart is always open and giving to all those who desire to run to Him and follow His teachings.

This leper pleased God when he asked: "If you wish, you can make me clean."

He did not ask for his own will but asked for God to do according to God's will.

This is the way of life that God wants to call on all of humanity, which are His children to run to God, ask Him to open our hearts, so that we always know how to live and do according to God's will, not according to our own will, because only God can heal both the body and the soul, only God knows what is good or what is bad.

God calls on all of humanity to run to God so that He may increase our strength, so that He may heal our illnesses of bodies and souls.

Today's Word of God also tells all of humanity that after the leper was healed, God called him to present himself to the priests, so that they could validate that he was healed; but he did the opposite of what God wanted. But, doing the opposite does not hinder God's power, it does not hinder His plan of salvation. He has turned evil into good, He has healed many people with illnesses of the souls and bodies, when they come to Him.

Through the Word of God today, God also calls on everyone to always trust all things to God; no matter what difficulties or challenges we encounter, always be faithful to God.

Because He can turn nothing into something, turn evil into good to help people escape the suffering of the world, escape the captivity of Satan.

Trust and rely on God, and believe in His power and strength. He can do everything and there is nothing He cannot do.

Thanks be to God. Amen.