11 February, Sunday — The more we seem to lose, the more we gain.

11 Feb – Dedication of the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd

Lv 13:1-2,44-46
1 Cor 10:31-11:1
Mk 1:40-45

Feeling sorry for him, Jesus stretched out his hand…

In today’s gospel reading, we see both the human and divine natures of Jesus. I am particularly struck by the words used to describe how Jesus feels when He sees the leper — ‘moved with pity”. To be moved with pity for someone else requires a deep feeling of empathy and affinity with the other. In expressing His pity for the leper, Jesus is expressing His one-ness with him. While He is the Son of God, He is also fully human at that very moment. He understands what it feels like to be suffering. Yet, while Jesus empathises with us and understands how we feel, He does not stop there.

In the next moment, we hear of how He reaches out to the leper and makes him clean. Here, Jesus has done something that is not humanly possible. He is now exhibiting His divine nature, removing our sins and afflictions in a way that only God can. It should be noted that the leper had first asked Jesus to make him clean. Our Lord heals us and gives us what we need, it is we who need to be ready to receive His graces. It is not always easy to see this, but God is always giving us all that we need. Even if we feel our sins and worthlessness so acutely, He is ready in the next instance to heal and comfort us.

Even at times of desolation when we think that we have experienced a loss, God is ready in the next moment to nourish us back to consolation. There is a wonderful spiritual classic that I often come back to, written by a Jesuit named Jean-Pierre de Caussade. My version of this book is entitled The Sacrament of the Present Moment. In Chapter 6, Fr Caussade tells us that, “With God, the more we seem to lose, the more we gain. The more he takes materially, the more he gives spiritually”. Even if we feel that we have fallen from grace, God is ready to restore us and bring us back to Him.

In our faith journeys, there will be many days of discomfort and suffering. There may be times when we sin and fall into deep desolation despite our best efforts to follow our Lord. It is during these times that we must remember to reach out to Him and ask for His healing – He looks upon us with love and pity. And in that next moment, however long it may take for us to reach that moment, He will heal and comfort us.

(Today’s OXYGEN by Jacob Woo)

Prayer: Lord, we pray for the wisdom to see Your works in our lives and to feel Your love for us, especially in times of trial and suffering.

Thanksgiving: We thank you Lord, for continuing to love and heal us, despite our sinful nature.