B Cycle – 6^th Sunday in Ordinary Time 24

Mk1:40-45

Jon the disciple in his first letter tells us “…all unrighteousness is sin” (1 Jn.5:16).  Jesus tells us “…it is what comes out of our hearts which defiles us. For out of our hearts comes evil thoughts, fornication theft, murder, adultery, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness” (Mk.21-22).  From early childhood we are taught there are degrees of sin, and we judge the penalty of sin depending on its degree. Mortal sin is deadly and venial sin damages our relationship with God, but it is not deadly.  That is a significant difference in our minds and how we react to our sin.  But if you listen to Jesus’s foolishness is just as damaging as adultery and murder.  In fact, that list of sins given to us by Jesus include mortal and venial sins and all are sin in the eyes of God and create a barrier between us and God.

As we are days away from the beginning of Lent, it is critical for us to enter that season of the Church by admitting we have sinned.  Admit all sin is in the eyes of God is “unrighteousness” and realize all sin puts a barrier between us from God.  We should approach this Lent with a desire to not only admit we need to repent, but also with a desire to feel the cleansing power of forgiveness.  The truth is, we approach God differently if we do not feel the impact sin has on our relationship with God.  

If we do not believe our small sins impact our relationship with God, then we have no need for Jesus.   to repent. The leper who went to Jesus, knelt before Him, and asked to be made clean knew he needed to be cleansed.  Sounds like repentance to me but also knowing the power Jesus had to cleanse him of all that separated him from God. His focus was to be healed, to be restored to the community of faith.  If you wish you can heal me, he cries out to Jesus. 

Sounds familiar, how often do we cry out to God hoping He will respond. Is hope all we have, now about us believing if we ask, we will receive (Mk.21:22). Or what about our mindset should be “…. this is the confidence which we have before Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us” (1 Jn.5:14).  Believing is the key component for us as we approach Lent. What is it we believe about God and what is it we believe about our sin impacting our relationship with God.  Are we in the same mind set as the leper who wonders if it is Jesus’s will to respond. Or do we believe it is God’s will and His desire for us to feel His embrace.   

How we view our sin makes a difference as we approach this Lenten season. Do we believe we are called to be witnesses of God’s grace or are we called to just seek holiness for our own sake?  Is our journey one where we feel called to be part of the mystical Body of Christ and use our gifts and talents to help others encounter Christ. Do we feel the presence of Jesus and desire to receive what He offers us – new life and a rebirth.  Is our faith a solitary journey or is this a journey where we understand the need to be supported by brothers and sisters who will help us, encourage us, and hold us accountable? 

The leper in today’s gospel speaks directly to us by his own doubts about God’s will. Doubt filles him and yet he desires what Jesus offers everyone who seeks His touch.  This leper is bold enough to go to Jesus and beg for what he desires to be healed. To end his isolation from the rest of the community because he is unclean.  Sin has a way of destroying our image of ourselves and our relationship with others.  But the Church during Lent invites us to look past our own image of ourselves and admit we need what Jesus offers each of us – wholeness, restoration, and the ability to become new creations. 

Do we dare kneel before Jesus and ask?  If we do ask, then are we prepared to follow the path Jesus invites us to follow?  The leper in today’s story is not invited to follow Jesus personally or physically.  Instead, he is told to be obedient to the law and not to tell anyone who healed him.  Perhaps we are missing something in this story because Jesus had to know he would not be able to contain his joy.  Perhaps there is a greater lesson about acknowledging who Jesus is.  Perhaps the lesson in this story is what we do with how we have been cleansed by gift of Jesus.  Do we ever give thanks for the sacrament of reconciliation freeing us from the sin that clings to us?  Like the ten lepers who were healed by Jesus and are we the one who returns to give thanks or do we just go on our way.   

That is a good place to begin our Lent, to give thanks to Jesus Christ for His obedience to God and for His dying for the penalty of our sin. Then giving thanks for the gift of the Holy Sprit whom the Father promised, and Jesus said He would send to us. Send to us to transform our hearts and to teach us about sin, forgiveness, and justification.  It is all about repentance but repenting because we have failed to live up to the standard of holiness God desires us to experience. A holiness that flows to us from the presence of God with us, the Spirit within us and the words of Jesus to guide us.  If we can begin our Lent by identifying ourselves as being unclean because all unrighteousness’ is sin and because we are prone to foolishness and sins of pride, envy, gossip, and laziness causing us to take God for granted.  We believe we are in a right relationship with God because we avoid mortal sin but that is the very definition of sin. Repent, turn from sin and live the gospel we will be told as we receive the ashes on our foreheads.  The gospel demands more than we believe we must give.  Make this Lent a time of listening and then respond to what you hear.  You will be surprised at how you will be guided on a journey into the heart of the Father.