Today is the final Sunday before the Great and Holy Season of Lent begins for the Latins on February 18 – Ash Wednesday. The gospel for today’s Mass is the Leper’s healing (Mark 1:40-45). The monks of St Mary’s Monastery (Petersham, MA) posted this quote which immediately struck my heart. I think I have my Lenten reflection …
“This leper is an excellent teacher of the right way to make petitions. He did not doubt the Lord’s willingness through disbelief in his compassion, but neither did he take it for granted, for he knew the depths of his own sinfulness. Yet because he acknowledged that the Lord was able to cleanse him if he wished, we praise this declaration of firm faith just as we praise the Lord’s mighty power. For obtaining a favor from God rightly depends as much on having a real living faith as on the exercise of the Creator’s power and mercy.
St. Paschasius Radbertus
6th Sunday through the Year