Harden not Your Hearts

January 12, Thursday of the First Week in Ordinary Time
Reading 1 Heb 3:7-14, Ps 95:6-7c, 8-9, 10-11, Mk 1:40-45

During the time of Jesus, lepers were considered unclean and were avoided by everyone. So one can only imagine Jesus being mobbed by those who were ill of leprosy, in the hopes that society will accept them again once they are cured. Today, those who are ill still hold on to that faith they will be cured by Jesus, so that they will be able to join their loved ones and see their friends again.

There is also a need for us to be healed not only of the physical illness but also of the spiritual illness brought about by sin. There are instances of persons experiencing physical recovery after going to Confession or receiving anointing from a priest.

It is mentioned in the First Reading “Take care, brothers and sisters, that none of you may have an evil and unfaithful heart, so as to forsake the living God (Hebrews 3:12).” When we sin, we turn away from God and from all the goodness coming from Him.

However there are times when we also get mad and even blame God for our illnesses. But today’s Psalm tells us, “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” Our sinfulness is an illness. God must be very frustrated with us because we chose to fill our hearts with evil, even though he gave us those hearts in the first place.

The healed man in the Gospel could have waited a long time to see Jesus, but he did not pressure Him to heal. Kneeling down he said, “If you wish, you can make me clean.”

When a prayer or a wish is coming from the heart, it does not command or force. The leper was still open to God’s will, and for that he was cured. If his heart were filled with pride, he would not have approached Jesus. Do we still have that humble heart that allows God's will to work for us, or do we act like a spoiled child who demands our way?

And once we are healed, do we thank God, rejoice and spread the story of God’s healing mercy to our family and friends or go back to our old, sinful ways? The man might have disobeyed Jesus by telling everyone what happened to him just because he experienced a miracle. He might have been too happy in his heart to keep things to himself.

Our hearts may be burdened with our everyday worries or may yearn for a lot of things, but choosing to listen to God will not harden it. Because a heart touched by God will be filled with joy and that burning desire to continue living our lives. If our hearts are hurting, let us be like the leper and offer that heart to Jesus, then we listen, and allow ourselves to be healed.