February 11, 2024: 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time

In Old Testament times, the Law dictated that sick people had to remain distant from the rest of the community.  So physical illness was compounded by the social reality of isolation.

Then we see the great power of Christ on display in the Gospel reading in more ways than one.  The man with the disease surely had great faith to approach Jesus when he was supposed to be distant from others, yet recognized Jesus had the potential power to heal Him.  Jesus, with compassion, heals the man and he can rejoin the community.  He does so with a renewed purpose in life, telling the Good News about the One Who can heal and restore us fully like no one else.

St. Paul calls us to live our lives ultimately for the glory of God.  St. Paul offered himself as a humble example of someone seeking to live faithfully, and he could serve as an example for others to imitate.

Beyond physical ailments, Christ, through His Paschal Mystery, has fully healed us from the effects of sin that keep us from God and from being part of the community that worships Him.  When we are aware of how Christ has healed us, we surely are filled, by faith, with zeal to respond by living our lives devoted to God, doing so as part of One Body that makes Him known in the world.

So as we head into Lent, let us praise Christ for healing us, in the spirit of the man who was healed, and share the testimony of that healing by our lives.