HOMILY FOR THURSDAY OF THE 1ST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME 12th January 2023 (Oh that today you would listen to his voice, harden not your heart (Cure of the leper

Homily for Thursday of the 1st week of ordinary time

Hebrews 3:7-14; Mark 1:40-45

The first reading of today's liturgy quoting Psalm 95 says: " O that today you would listen to his voice do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, as on that day of testing in the wilderness, where your ancestors put me to the test, though they had seen my works for forty years. Therefore I was angry with that generation, and I said, they always go astray in their hearts, and they have not known my ways. As I swore in my anger: they shall not enter my rest" (Heb 3:7-11).

Beloved in Christ, the heart is at the centre of man's existence. It alludes to the spiritual interiorly of man, the inner man, the man of conscience, the image and likeness he has with God. It is the heart that harkens to the voice of God. The voice of God in this context is significantly perceived in the "Word of God" (Scriptures). Hence, the heart of man is kept awake and active by listening to the voice of God through prayers and the sacraments.

Notwithstanding the great works God performed in the midst of the Israelites, by leading them with an overpowering hand from Egypt to the promised land, yet they turned their hearts away from God. Thereby, invoking the wrath of God. 

Friends in Christ, today we must listen to the Word of God and never harden our hearts. Tomorrow may never come for us. All that we have is today. 

The Gospel narrates the cure of the leper (Mk 1:40-42). Leprosy is a skin and contagious disease. It begins in a small way and afterwards invades the whole body. Those with leprosy are expelled from the ordinary human communities (Lev 13:46). 

Spiritually, sin is a kind of leprosy. It invades man's moral nature, cripples and disables it. It begins in a small way (small theft, lies, anger etc) then grows and becomes a habit that kills the soul. Sin is contagious. It can spread from individual to individual, group to group, from family to family, nation to nation. Sin renders the sinner unfit for the society of holy persons, and unworthy of a place in the Church of the living God. 

Beloved in Christ, the irony is that even if leprosy is curable in our society today, sin does not get cured by itself. No created power can heal the leprosy of sin. Only but Jesus can heal the leprosy of Sin. Only the blood of Christ can deliver us from sin 

"Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him saying: I do choose. Be made clean" (Mk 1:41). Friends in Christ, Jesus said: "Anyone who comes to me I will not drive away" (JN 6:37). Let us with humility approach Jesus asking for forgiveness and healing as the leper in today's Gospel did. Lord Jesus, may you heal us and make us whole again. Amen

Have a grace-filled day

Fr Remi Osj