Most Reverend José H. Gomez
Archbishop of Los Angeles
Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels
February 11, 2024
My brothers and sisters in Christ,1
As I was saying, today is World Marriage Day, when we celebrate the holy vocation of husband and wife. And later in this Mass we will have a special blessing for all the couples celebrating their anniversaries.
So, let us pray today for all married couples and for all couples who are getting ready to be married. And let us pray also for a renewed respect in our society for the institution of marriage and the blessings of children and the family.
Today, we also know that we are just a few days away from the beginning of Lent — this coming Wednesday is Ash Wednesday.
And our Gospel passage, I was thinking, it is the perfect preparation for Lent, as we just heard this story of Jesus’ healing of the leper.
Leprosy is a skin disease, as we know. And because of it, in Jesus’ time lepers were considered outcasts, they were driven to the margins of society, shunned as “unclean.”
We heard those sad words in our first reading today, from the Book of Leviticus: “Since he is in fact unclean, he shall dwell apart, making his abode outside the camp.”
In Jesus’ day, leprosy was considered a contagious disease. But also in the Bible, leprosy is a symbol of sin — which makes us “unclean,” which separates us from God and separates us from one another.
So Jesus’ healing in today’s Gospel is meant to be understood as both physical and spiritual. Jesus heals the body and he heals the soul.
In healing this man today in the Gospel, Jesus gives us a sign of the forgiveness and mercy that he offers to each one of us by his passion and death on the cross.
And as I was reflecting on this beautiful scene in today’s passage of the Gospel, I really realized that for me, it is special because we can see Jesus’ tenderness and compassion.
I was also reading it again, preparing for the celebration of the Mass this Sunday, and was touched by the humility of the leper, and his confidence.
As we heard, he comes to Jesus and kneels down. And he begs him with this simple, beautiful prayer: “If you wish, you can make me clean.”
And we can see that Jesus is touched by the man’s faith. The Gospel tells us he is “moved with pity.”
Now, the law of his time would forbid Jesus from coming into contact with this man. To be in the leper’s presence would make him “unclean.”
But Jesus not only allows the leper to approach him, he turns and draws near to the man.
Even more than that, as we just heard in the passage of the Gospel, Jesus stretches out his hand and in his compassion he touches the man. He answers the leper’s prayer with such a tender reply: “I do will it,” he says. “Be made clean.”
So my brothers and sisters, our Gospel this morning tells us the beautiful truth that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ!
Jesus comes into our lives. He stretches out his hand to us. He touches us with his compassion and forgiveness. And by his touch and by his Word, Jesus wants to make us clean. He wants to give us a new life.
And I was reflecting how, my dear brothers and sisters, this is the season of Lent’s promise. It’s the promise of the cross, the promise of our Catholic faith.
Jesus comes to heal us, just as he stretched himself to heal the leper in today’s passage of the Gospel. This is why he came into the world! To bring us God’s mercy, to bring us God’s love.
But we need to come to Jesus, we need to come with the same faith, the same courage as that leper today.
We can pray the leper’s prayer, we can pray it all the time, many times every day. We can say: Lord, if you will, you can make me clean!
One of the saints talked about the power of this prayer. He said: “What a beautiful prayer for you to say often, with the faith of the poor leper … You will not have to wait long to hear the Master's reply: ‘I do will it: Be made clean.’”2
Beautiful prayer that we can say many times every day.
And then in the second reading of today’s Mass, St. Paul says: “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.”
And I was reflecting on how there is no better definition of what it means to be a Christian. We are called to live by our Lord’s words and example — to be imitators of Christ.
That is how we should live, imitating Jesus! Living with joy and sharing the mercy and compassion that Jesus shows to us with others.
So, as we get ready for Lent, let us reflect on Our Lord’s merciful love for us.
And let us commit ourselves to sharing his mercy and love in our own lives, in whatever way we can, especially in our homes, and in our marriages and families.
Let us especially ask Mary our Blessed Mother for her intercession, as she can help us to walk with us and to guide us and to make us all imitators of her Son!
And especially we ask her intercession to help all married couples to live their vocation better every day with the grace of God. And that our families will be holy families, places of peace and schools of holiness.
1. Readings: Lev. 13:1–2, 44–46; Ps. 32:1–2, 5, 11; 1 Cor. 10:13–11:1; Mark 1:40–45.