Battlefield or Hospital?

Thursday, January 15, 2026

1 Sam 4:1-11; Mk 1:40-45

Today’s Gospel highlights Jesus’ compassion towards the leper. 

When we look into the earnest appeal of the leper as he comes to Jesus, it is clear that the leper considers Jesus as his last resort. This is why his appeal is, ‘If you wish, you can make me clean.’ And how will Jesus not heal someone with such a profound faith in him? 

This healing narrative also highlights the disobedience of the leper who proclaims Jesus’ name so that the Lord could not go anywhere publicly. The man’s willful disobedience out of overwhelming gratitude spoils Jesus’ Messianic Secret, the Markan Gospel’s recurring theme. 

However, what is more interesting is Jesus’ approach towards the leper. The Gospel describes that Jesus was ‘moved with pity’ when the man appealed to him for healing. 

While the world appears like a battlefield for many of us because of its competitive nature, for Jesus, it looks more like a hospital. The Good Lord, who is moved with pity, finds many suffering from mental and physical illnesses, broken relationships, family estrangements, addictions, oppression, marginalization, and alienation. Hence, Jesus’ mission was to give healing to as many people as possible. 

This view of Jesus contains an amazing lesson for us. The compassionate heart of Jesus was willing to cross any border to heal people. This is why, even though Jesus would have been rendered ritually unclean for touching the leper, the latter becomes clean by being touched by Jesus. Reflecting Jesus’ attitude, the former Pope Francis described the Church as a ‘field hospital’ whose core mission is to attend to the wounded and the needy. 

As followers of Christ, we are called to possess the mind of Christ. 

Let us pray that we may all be moved with compassion to alleviate pain and suffering in the world. 

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar