Not only is Jesus capable of healing, he wants to. Fr. Matt Stewart, SJ, reflects on Jesus’ desire to heal a leper and welcome him back into community. Based on the readings for Sunday, February 14, 2021.
Sure, Jesus can heal. But more importantly, Jesus wants to heal.
I’m Fr. Matt Stewart and this is my one-minute homily.
In today’s Gospel, a leper tells Jesus, “If you wish, you can make me clean.” Jesus tells him that he does wish it, and the leper is cleansed. Here, we see not only a healing miracle, but we also get an insight about the inner workings of Jesus’s mind and heart.
When Jesus sees someone suffering, he knows that he can bring lasting healing to that person’s life, but even more importantly, he longs to do so in his heart. His own heart is moved, and he also reaches out his hands so that the one who felt alone and outside can be warmly welcomed back into society.
When we encounter someone suffering, we know that we can reach out our own hands toward them and offer comfort, compassion, and companionship. But to really be like Jesus, we need to let our hearts be moved, so that more than simply being able to do it, even more so, we want to.
