Daily Gospel Reflection

Ask the Leper Question

I'm Matthew Kelly. Welcome back to Radical and Relevant, where we are exploring the genius of the gospel, the genius of Jesus' life and teachings, and each day looking for a word or phrase or an idea that jumps out at you to anchor your day in the gospel through that idea. Today's reading comes from Matthew 8:1-4. When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, "Lord, if you will, you can make me clean." And he stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, "I do will. Be clean." And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus said to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded for a proof to the people." So Jesus today is-- he's healing the leper and we see Jesus healing people over and over throughout the gospels. What jumps out at me today is just the concept of healing. I think we live in a culture-- we live at a time where we are in deep need of healing. We're in deep need of healing individually. We're in deep need of healing as families. We're in deep need of healing as communities. We're in deep need of healing as a country and we are in deep need of healing as a world. And so, in what way do you need Jesus to heal you today? What is the wound that is most dominant on your mind or what is the wound that's most recent in your heart? And you just want to ask Jesus exactly what the leper asked, "Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. If you will, you can heal me." The thing is, I think very often we don't ask God to heal us. It isn't that He doesn't want to heal us. It is that we don't ask. And so let's make today a day to ask for healing. Have an amazing day. And remember, don't just be yourself. Be the very best version of yourself. All that God created you to be.