Daily Reflection: Friday, June 28
Memorial of St. Irenaeus, Bishop and Martyr
Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean. (Mt 8:2)
Jesus immediately cleansed the person with leprosy. We are not concerned with the disease, but the man’s situation. He was excluded. He was socially dirty and probably felt that way about himself. He had only Jesus to hope in.
The feeling of being somehow dirty or unworthy is hard to shake. Priest-confessors meet people like that. We remind them that the Lord does not see them that way, but they need more. They need a community that treats them as worthy until they are convinced. We can’t spot these individuals in a crowd, so we need to treat everyone as worthy and loved. We need to be Jesus for them.
John Frambes, ofm
Read also:
This week’s Letter from the Pastor
