I Do Choose!

Friday, June 26, 2026

2 Kgs 25:1-12; Mt 8:1-4

Today’s Gospel highlights Jesus’ compassion.

When the man with leprosy begs the Lord for help, Jesus reaches out to him in compassion and restores his life and dignity. We can understand the healing in three steps. 

1. Jesus chose to listen to the man with leprosy. The nature of the disease was such that, without a cure available, those with leprosy were denied social communion. The stench and the fear of contagion pushed people away from those affected with the disease. Besides these, they were viewed as incurring God’s curse as well. It was to one such man’s plea that Jesus paid attention. Though he was followed by great crowds, he could still listen to the one who was suffering physical pain and social exclusion. When the appeal is made, Jesus generously responds, ‘I will. Be made clean.’ The merciful Lord never allowed anyone to suffer from anything dehumanizing.

2. Jesus’ healing of the man with leprosy involved touching him. Thus, Jesus willingly broke the barriers to restore someone’s dignity. People affected with leprosy were cast out of society and avoided to maintain ritual purity. Here, Jesus’ act of healing the man with leprosy not only broke down the religious laws that held people captive to meaningless traditions but also transcended the expectations of the law in the way it highlighted God’s mercy. Thus, when Jesus stretched out his hand and touched the person with leprosy, he took upon himself the uncleanness of the man in order to make him whole. Nothing could dissuade Jesus from attending to those in pain and in need. 

3. Jesus instructs the man with leprosy that he should go and show himself to the priest. This may appear as if Jesus himself wanted people to abide by the religious laws that oppressed them. However, Jesus sends the healed man to the priest not merely to fulfill the Mosaic law but more fully to ensure that he will be fully restored to the community. Thus, what Jesus intended for the healed man was spiritual and social restoration. The proof was enough for the man to reunite with his family, reclaim his dignity, and worship freely in the community. For Jesus, healing does not just mean the dispelling of physical pain but also the social stigma that the person was subjected to. In sum, the healing that Jesus offered was always wholesome. 

At the request of the man with leprosy, Jesus said, ‘I do choose.’ Jesus’ affirmative answer reflects his natural inclination to say ‘yes’ when people in need approached him. The man with leprosy reminds us that our faith in Jesus will win us a favorable response from him. 

Let us pray with the words of the man with leprosy, ‘Lord, if you choose to,’ to only receive the response of the Lord, ‘I do choose.’

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar