Memorial of Saint Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr
The readings from today are about the mercy of God towards the lowly. In the Gospel, ten lepers approach Jesus to be healed. But they ask him in an interesting way. Instead of asking outright to be healed, they ask him to have pity. To have pity means to be aroused by another’s suffering or anguish. Though they are hinting for Jesus to heal them, the lepers want Jesus to be moved out of love for them. Somehow, they know that Jesus is a man of pity – they have heard that he heals infirmities out of his love for others. Jesus is moved by their poverty, and he heals them.
Jesus is full of love, compassion, mercy, and pity. And he wants us to call out for his mercy. We see again and again in the gospels how Jesus loves the poor. Many times, bad things happen to us that are out of our control. Sometimes big things like illness, or death of loved ones. Or it could be things as small as bad weather, stubbing your toe, or waking up “on the wrong side of the bed.” We have many things that keep us poor, which means we have many opportunities to cry out to Jesus and receive his mercy and love.
So today as we celebrate the feast of the martyr St. Josaphat, let us not try to figure out ways to make ourselves rich, but instead rejoice in our poverty, knowing that we have a better opportunity to come to our Lord and receive his love and pity.
Reflection by Eli, seminarian
Posted in Articles for Ordinary Time, Daily Reflections