Desire to Restore
“I do will it. Be made clean.” (Luke 5:13)
“I do will it. Be made clean.” (Luke 5:13)
When one often makes plans or expresses hope for something, it is a tradition to include the remark "God-willing." But have we ever realized what we are saying? It's as if we are claiming to know or have confidence in the will of God. And quite often, in our missions of spreading the Gospel, we may be asked, "What is God's will?"
Today's Gospel gives us the answer as a suffering leper approaches the Lord. Jesus' response to the leper's plea does not include an examination or interrogation of the leper's sins or sickness. Instead, it includes Jesus' desire and affirmation that the leper be "made clean."
If we ever wonder what God's will is, our answer is found in Jesus' response to the leper and daily to others who are ill or imperfect; He desires that we be made clean, that we be restored, not destroyed.
What has fooled us into thinking the Lord does not want us to be healed from our sins or infirmities? Maybe this Christmas season is another opportunity to start following the Lord’s will to return to Him or be restored in His eyes!
My Lord and my God, I trust in you, help my distrust! Amen.
Father Lucius Amarillas, O.S.B. is a monk and priest of the Order of Saint Benedict at Saint Leo Abbey, Florida, where the Benedictine monks have worked and prayed since 1889. Fr. Lucius serves as University Chaplain and Adjunct Professor of Theology at Saint Leo University. Along with ministering to the Saint Leo community, Father Lucius also ministers throughout the United States, preaching retreats to laity, clergy, and consecrated religious.
