I don’t know if the leper visited the priest or not, but in spite of the healing he received, he didn’t respect Jesus’s request to be silent about it. Because he spread around the news of his healing, he made it difficult for Jesus to work. I can speculate that this man’s disobedience prevented others from drawing close to Christ for healing. My sin has negative consequences beyond my own spiritual health. “Sin …wounds the nature of man and injures human solidarity” (CCC #1849).
“Jesus has the power not only to heal, but also to forgive sins; he has come to heal the whole man, soul and body” (CCC 1503-5) Jesus offered the leper a physical healing, but I don’t know if he received a spiritual one. I do know that he immediately disobeyed Jesus. I know that everyone who approach Jesus through the sacrament of reconciliation receive a miraculous spiritual healing, whether them feel anything or not. Even when I fall repeatedly I know I can return to the sacrament again and again and “firmly resolve, with the help of his grace, to sin no more and avoid the near occasion of sin” (Act of Contrition). Jesus always desires to give me “a new heart” (CCC 1432).
Lord, I want to be healed. Please come into my heart. As I kneel before you, I ask you to cleanse me of disobedience and fear. I am very grateful for the opportunity to start again and again by being forgiven through the sacrament of reconciliation. Lord, through your grace, I want to love well. Lord, today by your grace I will pray the Jesus Prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”
“tell no one anything”
