January 8

Friday after Epiphany

First Reading

1 John 5:5-13

Beloved:
Who indeed is the victor over the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

This is the one who came through water and Blood, Jesus Christ, not by water alone, but by water and Blood. The Spirit is the one who testifies, and the Spirit is truth. So there are three who testify, the Spirit, the water, and the Blood, and the three are of one accord. If we accept human testimony, the testimony of God is surely greater. Now the testimony of God is this, that he has testified on behalf of his Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God has this testimony within himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar by not believing the testimony God has given about his Son. And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever possesses the Son has life; whoever does not possess the Son of God does not have life.

I write these things to you so that you may know that you have eternal life, you who believe in the name of the Son of God.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalms 147:12-13, 14-15, 19-20

R. (12a) Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.

Glorify the LORD, O Jerusalem;
praise your God, O Zion.
For he has strengthened the bars of your gates;
he has blessed your children within you.

R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.

He has granted peace in your borders;
with the best of wheat he fills you.
He sends forth his command to the earth;
swiftly runs his word!

R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.

He has proclaimed his word to Jacob,
his statutes and his ordinances to Israel.
He has not done thus for any other nation;
his ordinances he has not made known to them. Alleluia.

R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.

Alleluia

See Matthew 4:23

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Jesus proclaimed the Gospel of the Kingdom
and cured every disease among the people.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Luke 5:12-16

It happened that there was a man full of leprosy in one of the towns where Jesus was; and when he saw Jesus, he fell prostrate, pleaded with him, and said, “Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.” Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, “I do will it. Be made clean.” And the leprosy left him immediately. Then he ordered him not to tell anyone, but “Go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them.” The report about him spread all the more, and great crowds assembled to listen to him and to be cured of their ailments, but he would withdraw to deserted places to pray.

Give a Mass Offering

Prayer for Spiritual Communion

My Jesus, I believe that you are present in the most Blessed Sacrament. I love You above all things and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there, and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen.


Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
— see Psalms 147:12

Healing of the Lepers at Capernaum, James Tissot, Public domain Healing of the Lepers at Capernaum / James Tissot / 1886-1894

Readings & Reflection

Do we believe that Jesus has the power to heal us? How about the power to heal others? The church teaches us that all things are possible with Christ, including miraculous healings. Today, we hear the familiar story of the man who is plagued with leprosy, a terrible skin condition that effectively banned the victim from society. Not only were lepers banned from society, it was thought that their disease was somehow attributed to living a sinful life. 

It is for this reason that it is such a miracle that the man suffering leprosy had the courage to call out to Jesus for healing. The man could have been killed for breaking the rule of separation that existed, not to mention that one who was thought to be so sinful as to have leprosy should have the audacity to approach one as holy as Jesus.

What does Jesus do? Jesus reaches out and touches the man. Imagine the gasps that witnesses to such an event would offer. They would be in total disbelief of what Christ has just done, yet imagine how thankful the faithful man with leprosy is. Not only is his physical ailment healed, but Christ has demonstrated that the society can and should approach the man, touch him, and make him whole again by including him within the society that he is rightly a part of. 

May we have to same courage to call out to Christ for healing in our life, knowing that we not only may be physically healed, but also will certainly be spiritually healed.

Peace,

Fr. John Kurgan


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