Daily Gospel Reflection

Prayer Before Action

Hi, I'm Matthew Kelly, and welcome back to Radical & Relevant, where each day we explore the genius of the gospel, the genius of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Remember, each day we're looking for a word or phrase or an idea the Holy Spirit uses to capture our attention. Today's reading is from the Gospel of Luke 5:12-16. While Jesus was in one of the cities, there came a man full of leprosy. And when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and besought him. "Lord, if you will it, you can make me clean." And He stretched out His hand and touched him saying, "I will be clean." And immediately, the leprosy left him. And He charged him to tell no one, "But to go and show yourself to the priest and make an offering for your cleansing as Moses commanded for a proof to his people." But so much the more the report went abroad concerning Him and great multitudes gathered to hear and to be healed of their infirmities. But He withdrew to the wilderness and prayed.

What jumps out at you today? Did the Spirit use a word or a phrase or an idea to capture your attention? There is, of course, the idea that we place ourselves in each person, in each gospel. And in this gospel, you and I, we've got leprosy. And we're coming to Jesus. We're asking Him, "If you will it, you can make us clean." So in what way do you need to be clean today? In what way do you need to be healed? In what way do you need to be made whole is one of the ways that the gospel is speaking to us. Another way is Jesus' respect for tradition. He's just healed this guy of leprosy. But what does He say? He says, "Go off. Show yourself to a priest. Make an offering for your cleansing as Moses commanded." So you've got God, literally God saying, "As Moses commanded, go and do as Moses commandments. Honor the tradition." And then this last line is very, very powerful. You've got all these people coming to be healed. You've got all these people coming to hear Him speak. What does Jesus do? But Jesus withdrew to the wilderness and prayed.

I think that's the one that strikes me the most today because Jesus' action was always an action springing forth from prayer. It was always an action springing forth from who He was. It was always action springing forth from contemplation. And when we separate our actions from our prayer, we run the risk of falling into activism. And activism is nothing wrong with it other than it's not complete. It's not elevated. It is secular. It isn't spiritual. And if we're doing spiritual works, but they're separated from our prayer, then they can be very easily construed as just being a secular activism. And we don't want to fall into that. What jumps out at you today? Take it with you into your day. Allow the gospel to animate your life. Have a great day and remember, Be Bold, Be Catholic.