6th Sunday of Ordinary Time, B February 11, 2024
Fr. Alexander Albert St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette
“I do will it. Be made clean.” Jesus means it. And this man is right, Jesus can do whatever he wills because he is God. So, why aren’t we clean? Because, even though God wills it, we don’t.
I’m not talking about leprosy, of course. We have that cure already. We know that God does not always heal diseases. Here, though, scripture is using leprosy as a metaphor for sin. Don’t get me wrong, Jesus did heal this man of a real biological disease. But, just as we use words to convey ideas, God can use history itself to reveal the truth. In this case, he’s using this man’s healing as a lesson in the forgiveness of sins. Quite simply, those who come with faith and a genuine desire to be forgiven will be forgiven. Jesus does will it. He always wills it. Do we?
Unlike leprosy, both committing sin and being forgiven of sin requires our cooperation. You can catch a cold by accident. You can be cured of an infection in your sleep. But sin? You cannot sin by accident and you cannot be forgiven without your consent.
Who wouldn’t consent to being forgiven? Most people. Most people don’t actually want to be cleansed of all their sins. Sure, plenty will admit they want to get rid of some of their sins, but we all have our attachments. Whether it’s addiction to alcohol, our phones, food, lust, gossip, vanity, or money… there are things we know we probably should try to let go of or cut back on. But there’s that part of the brain, that weed in our hearts that says things like “I mean, I want to stop cuz I know it’s wrong… I want to fight it, but I also kinda want to lose every now and then. That way, it’s not really my fault and I won’t get it that much trouble, but I sometimes still get to enjoy it.”
Could you imagine that attitude with leprosy? Or covid? To actually think “you know, this disease makes me an exile, so I’d like to get rid of it… but not completely. Could I maybe get it every now and then just for a little while?” Sadly, we sometimes do want to be sick to get extra attention, or use it as an excuse to forget about everything else.
So, the analogy still works. We say we want to be clean, but we find ten thousand ways to hold onto the disease of sin. That’s why this man’s story is so important. There were thousands of lepers in the world in Jesus day. How many of them are cured? Only the ones that actually come to him. And notice that he usually sends them to a priest. Why is this man cured? He believes Jesus can do it and because he really wants it. So, let’s look at those two categories: faith and willingness.
First is faith. Do you believe Jesus can forgive your sins? Be honest! I can’t tell you how often I encounter people plagued by this suspicion that their sins are too much, that they are the exception. Please, you’re not that special! I mean, you are precious beyond measure and completely unique. But you know what isn’t unique? Your sins. They’re the most boring thing about you.
If you doubt God’s mercy, read this passage again. If you doubt he can forgive you, read and reread the crucifixion. Memorize Luke 23:34, “Jesus said, “Father, forgive them.” Memorize verses 42-43 and pray with the thief on the cross: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus “replied to him, ‘Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.’” Read, reread, and memorize 1 John 1:9, “If we acknowledge our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from every wrongdoing.” He means every!
Look at me. Does anyone really think I became a priest because I didn’t have other options? As if I couldn’t have possibly made it as a married man working in the world? I chose this life. Why? To forgive your sins. I encountered God’s mercy. I experienced his power to forgive and cleanse anything and everything I was willing to give him. I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life bringing that forgiveness to others. To you. Believe God can forgive you because of what we read in scripture. Believe because I’ve bet my life on it.
Once you do believe, though, you have to actually give it to him. That half-hearted “I want to be free but not really” attitude I talked about? That’s called affection for sin. We enjoy sin. That’s why we do it! Even worse, we sometimes even enjoy the misery it brings. Pope Francis recently talked about sadness as “the pleasure of non-pleasure” as if we prefer to be gloomy about our situation.
Whether it’s straightforward pleasure or that perverse anti-pleasure, we form affections and attachments to sin. If we ask Jesus to make us clean, but still hold on to that affection… then do we really want to be clean? It’s true that you can’t perfectly control your feelings and affections. It’s normal to “miss” some of your old sins even if you no longer commit them. But we can… we must reject those affections and work against them. Over time, they can be healed and fade, but we must be vigilant. If we indulge those affections, it’s like the healed leper going back to hang out in the leper colony. If you dwell on those affections, if you consent to those old affections, you will grow stagnant in your spiritual life. You might even go back to that sin. I speak from experience here – the miracle of mercy that brought me to the priesthood wasn’t the last time I needed mercy.
If we aren’t completely willing to be cleansed, if we are still attached to old sins, what to do? Meditate… really dwell on Jesus’ passion. Try to stir up the realization that your sins cause his wounds. Or read up and reflect seriously on the last judgment, how serious sin is, and how awful purgatory is. Purgatory is immensely painful, as bad as hell except that it’s temporary. Make a good confession and include the times you’ve willingly given into or fed those affections. Sin is real and it is deadly serious. You should be afraid of hell. Afraid but not worried! For your love of heaven should surpass your fear of hell. You should be soberminded about the deadliness of sin. Soberminded but not anxious! For, as deadly as sin is, the mercy of God gives even more life. He can forgive anything you bring to him. You have only to come to him in confession like the leper: “if you wish, you can make me clean.” Hear him – and believe him! – when he says “I do will it.” Hear him and say back to him “I will it too!” Then, be made clean.