THURSDAY HOMILY: 1ST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME {YEAR B}
THEME: I’ve Got A Secret!
BY: Deacon Bill Frere
Gospel – Mark 1:40-45
Ruins of Capernaum
Can you keep a secret? No, not a simple childhood secret like – somebody likes you OR I know where the presents are hidden! I mean a really big, really wonderful, uplifting secret! Something that would put a smile on your face and warm your heart! Could you keep it secret? Even if you were sworn to secrecy, could you keep it to yourself?
I couldn’t! I know I couldn’t! I also know for a fact that Ginger, my wife, could! And she did! Just a couple years ago, she was given a secret to hide specifically from me and not to breathe a hint of it to me! And she did! Needless to say, I was completely surprised when the secret was revealed!
The point is some people can keep secrets and others struggle and/or fail miserably. The leper in today’s Gospel is a good example. Scripture scholars call it the Messianic Secret and it is a common theme in Mark’s Gospel! Jesus explicitly tells the leper not to tell anyone. One simple request! But the leper couldn’t do it! He immediately goes and tells EVERYONE! Not just the people he knows! He spreads it far and wide. He is so excited, so energized, that he is bursting with eagerness to share the news. And maybe that is exactly the point! Some news is too good not to share!
Jesus is the Son of God, our Divine brother! He died on the cross for our salvation. Is that something you should keep to yourself? Is it something to be locked away in your heart and not spoken about? Shh! It’s a secret! Or is it rather something worth shouting from the rooftops? Is it something we are called to bear witness to in our words and actions? In many ways that leper was a disciple of Jesus. He heard the Word! He saw the Word and its power! And, like a true disciple, he immediately spread the Good News! What about us?
I’ve got a secret! And it will change your life!