The Power That Is Mercy

Homily for Friday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Both readings for today demonstrate God’s limitless power and mercy. In the first reading, God promises Abraham, already ninety-nine years old, that he will father a child who will be given the name Isaac – a word that means one who rejoices or one who laughs.

The Gospel passage picks up the story immediately after Jesus finishes the Sermon on the Mount. A leper approaches Jesus and demonstrates great faith. In response to that faith, Jesus heals him. However, this healing has great ramifications. Not only is he freed from his illness, he is restored to his family and allowed once again to enter a synagogue and the Temple of Jerusalem to join with his fellow Jews in praising God. He will once again be able to take up his trade and enter into commerce with his neighbors. It does not take a great imagination to realize that this cleansing is akin to a resurrection of sorts.

Power and mercy are two attributes that we use to describe our God. At the same time, we realize that God’s true power IS mercy and compassion. Our God, who is all-powerful, deigns to enter into our human affairs and uses that power to heal, to cleanse, and to forgive.

The same God who blessed Abraham and Sarah is the same God of Jesus Christ who cleanses the leper. This God calls us to faith in baptism, raising up martyrs and saints to himself for his glory, in hopes that we, too, may one day be with him in paradise. Let us be patient in our quest for God’s promises and ask God for the faith to ask for what we need and the fortitude to continue bringing light and goodness into whatever forms of darkness and evil we encounter. The Lord is always faithful, even when things seem impossible.