Daily Gospel Reflection for January 11, 2019

Today's Gospel: Luke 5:12-16 Last year, I wrote about this same passage as recorded in Mark. A leper approaches Jesus exclaiming, “If you wish you can heal me!” Jesus’ reply is equally simple, “I do wish it!” These encounters with Jesus and the awesome power of God are both simple and complex. Jesus’ response is simple, as are His instructions to the healed man to follow the prescription of Moses. Things become complicated as even more come to be healed, but Jesus retreats to deserted places to pray. As I call to mind again the birth and death anniversary of my firstborn son, Joshua Emet, on this day I too am reminded of the simple and the complex. Today I became a father. Today my family was drawn up into God’s plan for eternal life. Today Joshua’s life became a sign to us who have come to believe in what God has accomplished through the Son in the Spirit. The first reading today also offers a much longer and dense area of reflection. St. John writes that spirit, water, and the blood testify as one. Simple enough. But how the Spirit draws us up to share in eternal life because of the signs God has shown us in Christ’s sacrifice is a deeper mystery. I think of God’s will and the sacrifice of His firstborn Son.