Trust God's Love for Us

Homily for Thursday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

Both of the readings for this Thursday in the First Week of Ordinary Time might leave us scratching our heads a bit as we tried to decipher the message of these Scripture passages.

As is often the case, the story of Hophni and Phineas shows us the culmination of the story without telling us what has prompted God’s punishment of the Israelites under their command. If we back up a little bit in the First Book of Samuel, we would find that both Hophni and Phineas are guilty of placing their needs ahead of God’s commandments. The Israelites are also guilty of regarding the Ark of the Covenant as some sort of giant rabbit’s foot that will make it possible for them to win the battle against the Philistines. The sins of Hophni and Phineas and the cavalier attitude of the Israelites with regard to the sacredness of the Ark find them in dire straits.

The attitude of the leper in St. Mark’s Gospel passage is entirely different. Leprosy resulted in emotional, social, and physical isolation for those who were so afflicted. The leper approaches Jesus humbly, and in his request for healing, he leaves the choice up to Jesus. Jesus does heal the leper, with the result that the leper is now free to move about as he wishes in the community. However, by spreading the news of his healing, Jesus himself is isolated by the press of the crowds who wish to approach him. Jesus had given of his love and mercy freely despite the hindrance that results for him, a foreshadowing of his loving sacrifice on the cross. One commentary on the Gospel of St. Mark points out that the shadow of the cross, which will appear in the final chapters of the Gospel, is evident in every chapter.

We must all learn that when we feel desperate for a particular result, as if we always know best, it is a cue to trust not only that God always wants to help us and will do so in the best way at the best time. Like the leper, we rejoice when God intervenes in our lives, just as we rejoice in coming to the altar to receive the greatest gift of God, the Eucharist.