Reading: From the Gospel according to St. Luke 5: 12- 16, 4; 40-41
\nDear and Respected Brethren,<\/p>\n
By the Grace of God Almighty we are entering the second week of the
\nGreat Lent of this year and we start with the Sunday which is referred
\nas the Lepers\u2019 Sunday.
\nThe importance of the miracle is not in the person who was healed, or
\nthe place where he was healed or the way in which he was healed. We
\nall know from the first verse of today\u2019s reading that a man full of
\nleprosy had an opportunity to present himself to our Lord and to
\nrequest our Lord for His favorable intervention. Let us listen to St.
\nLuke\u2019s description of the opportunity: \u201cAnd it came to pass when he
\nwas to a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy: who seeing Jesus
\nfell on his face and besought him, saying, Lord, if you will, you can
\nmake me clean.\u201d The way in which he had presented his need is super
\nand unique. The first thing is his way of presentation of his need is
\nsignificant. He fell on his face means he had presented his body
\nentirely on the feet of Lord Jesus. In Malayalam he had a sashtanga
\npranamam, a worship using eight parts of the body.\u00a0 Our Kumbideel is
\nbased on this principle and we are obliged to have Kumbideel several
\ntimes during our Lenten prayers.<\/p>\n
Secondly he prayed, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. This is
\nthe real style of Christian prayer. The leper was confident that the
\nLord was able to cure him though his disease was so severe and
\nserious. Still he gave prominence for God\u2019s will. The leaders of the
\nso called prayer groups who try to increase the number of their groups
\nalways tempt the members of the Episcopal Churches with an invitation:
\n\u201ccome and see what is happening in our prayer meetings. One who come
\nand attend our prayer meetings would get everything that they need.\u201d
\nOne who might complain that there are no prayers for the needs among
\nthe faithful in our Church must realize what is to be prayed and how
\nto be prayed. Today\u2019s reading is a great experience for all of us. We
\nmust realize the basic theme of it. While praying for our needs, let
\nus not give importance for the need, or the depth and width in the
\nhuman assessment, whereas we are obliged to give prominence to the
\nwill of God. From the leper let us learn the following:<\/p>\n
a)\u00a0 \u00a0 How to pray. We must present our entire body before His feet,
\nand we must do prostration. (Kumbideel) Our forefathers were so
\nparticular to make the prostration during all prayers other than the
\ndays which are marked by the Holy Church not to make the prostration.
\nLet us think ourselves and find out our own approach to this great
\nteaching. We must practice and enjoy the satisfaction we might
\nachieve. It is true that unless and until we might not practice, we
\nwould not realize the great spiritual satisfaction from doing so.
\nb)\u00a0 \u00a0 We must pray for our personal needs by giving due importance
\nand prominence to God\u2019s will. Let us not project our needs above God\u2019s
\nwill. Let us keep our needs subject to God\u2019s will. Our God Almighty is
\nso kind, benevolent and compassionate. But it does not grant freedom
\nto misuse it and to present our needs in a compelling manner, without
\nseeking the will of God. All of us must make sure that God Almighty
\nwill not do any harm for us and He will not ignore us. We could ask
\nfor His will again and again. We should not forget the truth that we
\nneed the maximum compassion from God for the remission and forgiveness
\nof our sins. Let us pray for the same as much times as we could. The
\nLenten prayers are focusing on the forgiveness of God against our
\nsins.
\nc)\u00a0 \u00a0 Let us pray for the complete cleaning of our body and mind.
\nLet us also uphold the prayer of St. Peter at the time of washing the
\nfeet of the Apostles, He prayed: He beseeched our Lord to wash not
\nonly his feet, but also his head and hands. Let it be our prayer
\nalways. Washing of the feet stands for the Holy Confession in the Holy
\nChurch. The Holy Church insists that one who has been baptized once
\nneed not be baptized again. It is based on our Lord Jesus\u2019 blessed
\nwords: \u201cHe that is washed need not save to wash his feet but is clean
\nevery whit.\u201d (St. John 13: 10) The Holy Church teaches to have holy
\nconfession at least once in every forty days. Are we serious about
\nhaving regular confessions? Let us think and find the answer.
\nWe need to have cent percent repentance, leaving away all our selfish
\ndesires and long for the complete cleaning of our mind, body and
\nspirit. The Lenten prayers give due importance for repentance and
\nsanctification. We should not forget the fact that sanctification is
\nthe mercy of God without barriers. It is the will of God Almighty and
\nHe could clean any one at any time. We usually classify people around
\nus as good and bad. It is God who could convert the bad or the evil
\nones much better than many of us.
\nAs soon as our Lord heard the poor Leper\u2019s plea and supplication, He
\nput forth his hand and touched and said, \u201cI will, be thou clean.\u201d We
\nmust long to hear such a blessed word from our Lord God. If we were
\nthere, we would have murmured: \u201cJesus is not going to cure him. He
\nmight not even listen to him. The leper is crying in vain,\u201d Surprising
\nall the ones who had ill feeling towards the leper, who rushed himself
\nto the presence of Lord Jesus, ignoring the social restrictions, our
\nLord touched him and cleaned him free and completely. Our Lord made
\nonly one condition to show himself to the priest. Our Lord insisted
\nhim to have a true confession.<\/p>\n
We are again and again reminded by our Lord to present ourselves to
\nthe Priest and to have a meaningful and apt confession. When a
\nfaithful would kneel before a priest for a touching and meaningful
\nconfession, our Lord would surely make him or her clean for all sorts
\nof sins and iniquities. Let us realize the greatness of the sacrament
\nof confession and let us make use of it. Many of us misunderstand the
\nmeaning of it and a few insist for the annual confession. In the Holy
\nChurch there is no permanent arrangement of annual confession. The
\nsacrament is meant for the faithful when he or she feels the need, and
\nrealizes that he or she is far aloof from God. There is no time
\nrestriction for this sacrament. The Holy Church insists that her
\nchildren must have the confession at least once in forty days, unless
\nhe or she feels the need to have the same before the due time. Let\u2019s
\nrepent well and have confession and attain the forgiveness for our
\nsins.<\/p>\n
May God bless us all.<\/p>\n
Jose Kurian Puliyeril
\nKottayam<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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