In today’s Gospel reading, we see how Jesus cured a leper who was treated as an outcast, forbidden to approach anyone even to the extent of giving warning to passers-by of his presence. Anyone who touched a leper was considered unclean and had to go through a process of purification in order to enter to public life again. Have we ever thought how a leper felt in that situation? What was Jesus’ response?

Jesus’s compassion to the leper challenges us to do likewise. St. Francis of Assisi had such a Conversion experience of kissing a leper who was God revealing Godself in that transforming event.

By healing the social outcast, Jesus paid for the price to take on his condition. What does this say to us as disciples of Christ? Are we ready to be the ‘voice’ of those who are ‘voiceless’ in our society?

The letter to the Hebrews urges us to listen to the Holy Spirit. Today the Holy Spirit continues to prompt us to actions of genuine love towards those who are marginalized, rejected and voiceless in our midst.