In today’s first reading we are urged to listen to the voice of God and to not harden our hearts against His voice. During our prayer time, we mostly expect God to speak to us. We expect a huge miracle, a powerful voice, or a vision from heaven. Most of the time we are busy reminding Him about our to-do list as if He does not know and He might forget what we need. We do not realise that we need to pause for Him to speak to us, for us to listen to His gentle voice or His gentle whisper.

The Lord Jesus’ healing touch on a leper is revealed through to¬day’s Gospel proclamation. Here the leper went to the Lord Jesus because he knew the Lord to be the only answer to his problem. When he said to the Lord Jesus “if you wish, you can make me clean”, he meant that if it is your will you may heal me. But what do we ask when we go to the Lord Jesus? We go to Him with our problems and we expect Him to solve our problems according to the way we want them to be solved. But the leper surrendered himself to the will of God despite his desperate need for healing.

The Lord works more powerfully in lives that are surrendered to Him. The Lord Jesus Himself reveals this beautiful mystery through His life when He said, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish His work” (John 4:34). Every mo¬ment of His life was designed by the Heavenly Father and God was unfolding His plans so beautifully in and through His life.

The Blessed Mother is a good example of a person who understood this mystery of total surrender. As a teenager, she may have had so many plans and dreams about her life, but everything was changed when the angel visited her. Because she submitted and surrendered herself to the Lord, He moved through her life and fulfilled His purpose through her.

Prayer: Abba Father, give me a heart of surrender and love that longs to hear your voice. Amen