The University of Johannesburg choir sings the Kyrie: ‘Lord, have mercy; Christ, have mercy’. These imploring words, which have been sung for centuries, are a reminder of the inexhaustible mercy of God, of God’s unfailing compassion and forgiveness. As you listen, you might think for a moment about the need you might have for that forgiveness, and the need, too, for us to show that same forgiveness to others.

Kyrie eleison

Christe eleison

Today’s reading is from the Gospel of Mark.

Mark 1:40-45

A leper came to [Jesus] begging him, and kneeling he said to him, ‘If you choose, you can make me clean.’ Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, ‘I do choose. Be made clean!’ Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. After sternly warning him he sent him away at once, saying to him, ‘See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.’ But he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the word, so that Jesus could no longer go into a town openly, but stayed out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter.

Let this story play in your imagination. Imagine first this man, suffering from the disfiguring skin disease of leprosy. What is his life like? What are his emotions as he approaches Jesus and is healed?

Now imagine what Jesus is like in his scene. He is “moved with pity”. His heart goes out to the man. Imagine how he looks at this man, how he speaks to him, how he moves….

Hold these feelings and these images in your mind as you hear the scene described a second time.

Mark 1:40-45

A leper came to [Jesus] begging him, and kneeling he said to him, ‘If you choose, you can make me clean.’ Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, ‘I do choose. Be made clean!’ Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. After sternly warning him he sent him away at once, saying to him, ‘See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.’ But he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the word, so that Jesus could no longer go into a town openly, but stayed out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter.

Christians are called to develop a heart like Jesus’s – a heart that goes out to people who are suffering. In these last moments of the prayer today you might want to ask Christ to help you develop a heart like his, that feels compassion, that eagerly seeks to reach out and help.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be

World without end

Amen