INTRODUCTORY REFLECTION
Mark doesn’t say, but presumably Jesus met today’s leper on the outskirts of town (Pope Francis’ ‘peripheries’).
Jesus not only heals his physical condition but restores him to life in the community. Ironically, the man’s loose tongue drives Jesus out of society to the margins, making a leper of him. It’s a prophetic sign of what is yet to come.
Jesus’ identification with the human condition is so complete that he allows himself to be cast out of Jerusalem and executed as a common criminal. As Paul declared, ‘He did not cling to his equality with God but emptied himself to assume the condition of a slave’ (Ph 2:6). That’s what we are called to be, servants of outcasts.
THE WEEK’S PRAYER FOCUS
We pray for an end to all forms of prejudice, judgment and discrimination that condemn people to exclusion, that the God-given dignity of every human person be respected.
SAMPLE INTERCESSIONS
These intercessions are offered for selected use at Sunday Mass in the parish alongside those that express local needs and concerns.
PRESIDER
Dear friends, with compassion and power Jesus healed the leper and ended his isolation. Let us pray for the healing of our wounded and fractured world.
READER
We pray for all who minister to outcasts at the margins of society, that they will give them a true sense of their human dignity and their right to belong. (Pause) Let us pray to the Lord.
We pray for Christians in the growing number of nations actively hostile to their faith, that they will draw strength from God’s Spirit and our solidarity with them. (Pause) Let us pray to the Lord.
We pray for the Catholic faithful around Australia, that they will have their say in the national consultation for the second session of the Synod on Synodality. (Pause) Let us pray to the Lord.
We pray for all who suffer in body, mind or spirit, that today’s World Day of the Sick will help renew their courage, hope and patience. (Pause) Let us pray to the Lord.
We pray for an end to the bloodshed in Gaza, Ukraine and every place of war, that humanitarian aid be delivered and recovery begun. (Pause) Let us pray to the Lord.
We pray for those who bring joy to our lives and raise our spirits, that their gift of grace will inspire us to love more freely and be united in hope. (Pause) Let us pray to the Lord.
We pray for Australia’s First Nations peoples, that this week’s anniversary of the National Apology to the Stolen Generations will spur fresh efforts to overcome indigenous disadvantage. (Pause) Let us pray to the Lord.
We pray for our parish community, that Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent will call us to truly repent and believe in the gospel. (Pause) Let us pray to the Lord.
We pray for those who have died recently . . . and for those whose anniversary of death occurs around this time, that they will be led safely to eternal life by Christ the good shepherd. (Pause) Let us pray to the Lord.
PRESIDER
All-loving God, you made us in your image and brought us to new birth in Christ. Send us out in his name to heal the sick. We ask this through Christ, our Lord.