Friday January 9th: Instruments of healing

We too are called to embody God’s compassion by drawing near to those on the margins…

Luke 5: 12 – 16

During the Christmas season, we celebrate the fact that God has drawn near to us in the flesh. Today’s gospel shows what that nearness looks like in action. A leper approaches Jesus. He is isolated, unclean, and excluded from community. He does not demand healing; he simply asks: “Sir, if you wish, you can cure me.” Jesus’ response is deeply incarnational. He does not heal from a distance. He stretches out his hand and touches the man.

At Christmas, we proclaim that God is not afraid of our brokenness. In Christ, God enters fully into our wounded world, touches what is rejected, and restores dignity to those cast aside.

Yet after the miracle, Jesus withdraws to pray. Compassion flows from communion with the Father. Jesus embodies the Father’s compassion. We too are called to embody God’s compassion by drawing near to those on the margins, to be instruments of healing, and to witness, through word and action, that Emmanuel, God-with-us, continues to touch the world through us as He did through Jesus.