When Jesus came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. And then a leper approached, did him homage, and said, “Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.” He stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, “I will do it. Be made clean.” His leprosy was cleansed immediately. Then Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one, but go show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them.”
Matthew 8: 1-4
This Gospel passage is another one of the many that demonstrates Christ's love and power. There are so many things to pick apart even from just these few words that Saint Matthew uses to describe this miracle.
"And then a leper approached"
When Jesus walked the earth, those with leprosy were seen as the outcasts of society. People would stay as far away from them as they could for fear of the disease. But it was more than that. Most people were unkind to them because of their leprosy. People would call them unclean because of the marks and scars that they had on their bodies. Similarly, we too are unclean. Although most of us probably do not suffer from leprosy, we all suffer from sin. Sin dirties our soul, and the only thing that can clean us is the mercy of Christ. Like this leper, we must not be afraid to approach Jesus with all of our sins and trust that He will take care of them.
"Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean."
This is the next step. Asking to be cleansed. We, as Catholics, do this every time we say an Act of Contrition or every time we participate in the sacrament of reconciliation. We come to Jesus and ask Him to cleanse our souls from the stain of sin.
"I will do it. Be made clean."
This sentence shows what Jesus wants for us. Without any questions or hesitations, He cleansed this man of this disease. Jesus wasn't afraid of the ugliness of this man's scars or of what the illness could do to Him. It's the same way with us. As humans, we have the sinful tendency to judge others' actions. If someone has done something really bad, we see them as a bad person and avoid them, just as the people did to the lepers. Jesus doesn't do that. He embraces the sinner (and the leper) and welcomes them into His friendship if they desire it. If we are actually sorry for our sins and want God's love and mercy to be manifested in our lives, God will forgive us. He will make us clean, just as He did the leper. All we have to do is come to Him. And there are multiple ways of doing this. One way is through the Holy Eucharist. Every time we receive the Eucharist, all of our venial sins are washed away. So as long as you don't have a mortal sin on your soul (a grave act deliberately committed with full knowledge of its gravity to hurt yourself, God, or another person*) your soul becomes as clean as it was on the day of your baptism. By the way, if you are in a state of mortal sin, you should not receive the Eucharist before receiving absolution in the sacrament of reconciliation. (See 1 Corinthians 11:27) This brings s to our next method, the sacrament of reconciliation. In this sacrament, we confess our sins to a priest who is "in persona Christi," in the person of Christ, and God forgives us completely through the priest if we are really sorry for what we have done**. In this sacrament, we literally hear the words "I absolve you from your sins"*** spoken by Christ through the priest. Your sins are completely gone. Washed away. Isn't that amazing?! Through this sacrament, God also gives us the grace to turn away from all future sins. The third way is by confessing your sins to God and making a perfect act of contrition.**** You could do this when you are unable to go to confession or mass, for example, during a pandemic. A perfect act of contrition is an act of contrition prayed solely out of sorrow for your sins and love of God. Even though we do not physically hear the words of absolution, we can hear them in our hearts by trusting in the love and mercy of God. Just as He did with the leper, He wills that we are forgiven! He actually wants it more than we do.
"See that you tell no one"
Jesus wasn't telling the leper not to tell anyone because He was ashamed of helping the leper. He told Him this because of His humility. Jesus did not heal the man because He wanted recognition for His great works and miracles, He did it because He loved the man with leprosy. He loved him with the perfect love that He extends to all of us each and every day.
We, almost 2000 years after Jesus walked the earth, can feel this same healing power of Christ every day of our lives by opening ourselves up to His forgiveness. And we don't need to be afraid to do this!! It's super easy. Just take the first step: Approach Him and trust that His mercy is bigger than any sin you could ever commit. Jesus loves you, and just like the leper, He wills that you be cleansed in His love and mercy.
* Catechism of the Catholic Church 1857
** Catechism of the Catholic Church 1441-1442
*** Catechism of the Catholic Church 1449
**** Catechism of the Catholic Church 1452
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