Carmelite homily for Thursday, January 16, 2020 – Lectionary 308
In today’s Gospel we have a leper come to Jesus and asking to be made clean; and Jesus does heal the leprosy, does make the man clean. Teresa of Avila says, “Don’t you think, Lord, it would be good that the inn where you have chosen to dwell were not to get so dirty?” Actually, I think, the inn is supposed to be dirty. That’s where our mission is. This man’s mission was in his leprosy. With the cleansing he went out and proclaimed the good news. We oftentimes think of these things as afflictions or problems or failings. They’re actually blessings and gifts from God. So, yes, the inn is to be dirty – for the Lord to cleanse and us to proclaim.