The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to treat the decay and desperation we encounter at times with the healing example of care, compassion, and love offered by Christ for everyone.
The Reading from the First Letter of John proclaims that Faith is Victory over the World.
* [5:6–12] Water and blood (1 Jn 5:6) refers to Christ’s baptism (Mt 3:16–17) and to the shedding of his blood on the cross (Jn 19:34). The Spirit was present at the baptism (Mt 3:16; Mk 1:10; Lk 3:22; Jn 1:32, 34). The testimony to Christ as the Son of God is confirmed by divine witness (1 Jn 5:7–9), greater by far than the two legally required human witnesses (Dt 17:6). To deny this is to deny God’s truth; cf. Jn 8:17–18. The gist of the divine witness or testimony is that eternal life (1 Jn 5:11–12) is given in Christ and nowhere else. To possess the Son is not acceptance of a doctrine but of a person who lives now and provides life. (1 John, CHAPTER 5 | USCCB, n.d.)
Psalm 147 praises the creator who provides food to animals and human beings; the third and climactic section exhorts the holy city to recognize it has been re-created.
* [Psalm 147] The hymn is divided into three sections by the calls to praise in Ps 147:1, 7, 12. The first section praises the powerful creator who restores exiled Judah (Ps 147:1–6); the second section, the creator who provides food to animals and human beings; the third and climactic section exhorts the holy city to recognize it has been re-created and made the place of disclosure for God’s word, a word as life-giving as water (Psalms, PSALM 147 | USCCB, n.d.).
The Gospel of Luke presents the Cleansing of a Leper by Jesus.
* [5:12] Full of leprosy: see note on Mk 1:40.
* [5:14] Show yourself to the priest…what Moses prescribed: this is a reference to Lv 14:2–9 that gives detailed instructions for the purification of one who had been a victim of leprosy and thereby excluded from contact with others (see Lv 13:45–46, 49; Nm 5:2–3). That will be proof for them: see note on Mt 8:4. (Luke, CHAPTER 5 | USCCB, n.d.)
David Crawford comments that we can learn a lot from this “man full of leprosy” who received the gift of being healed. He did not resign himself to suffering. Instead, desiring to be healed, he brought his illness to Jesus and asked for healing – a good lesson for us all. Our Alleluia verse reminds us that Jesus “cured every disease among the people,” so we should bring all our afflictions to Jesus – physical, emotional, spiritual … all of them.
But we can’t overlook what followed, how powerful a witness the man became, not because of anything he said but because it was apparent to everyone that he had been healed and changed. We, too, have that potential to show the impact Jesus has had and continues to have on our lives … to borrow the words of an old hymn, “let others see Jesus in you.” We must surrender our anxieties, fears and doubts so that we can fully experience the joy that comes from Christ, so much so that it will be apparent to everyone that we have been healed and transformed. We must give up our angers, frustrations, insecurities and judgmentalism so that we can truly love our neighbors and ourselves. We must forgive and be forgiven so that our relationships with one another and with God can be restored. We must swap self-centeredness for compassion and arrogance for humility so that caring for the “least” ones (i.e., the hungry, the thirsty, the unwelcomed stranger, the naked, the sick and the imprisoned listed by Jesus in Matthew 25:31-46) becomes second nature – and as we, with service and compassion, show others they are loved, we will be powerful witnesses, just like the man healed of leprosy in today’s Gospel. (Crawford, 2026)
Don Schwager quotes “Jesus' healing demonstrates the power of the kingdom of heaven,” by Ambrose of Milan, 339-397 A.D.
"The authority of power in the Lord is here compared with the steadfastness of faith manifest in the leper (Luke 5:12-13). He fell on his face because it is a mark of humility and modesty that each feel shame for the sins of his life, but shyness did not restrict his confession. He showed the wound, he begged for the remedy, and the very confession is full of piety and faith. 'If you will,' it says, 'you can make me clean'" He conceded the power to the Lord's will. But he doubted concerning the Lord's will, not as if unbelieving in piety, but as if aware of his own impurity, he did not presume. The Lord replies to him with a certain holiness. 'I will: be clean. And immediately the leprosy departed from him.' For there is nothing between God's command and his work, because the work is in the command. Thus he spoke, and they came into being (Psalm 33:9). You see that it cannot be doubted that the will of God is power. If, therefore, his will is power, those who affirm that the Trinity is of One will affirm that it is of one power. Thus the leprosy departed immediately. In order that you may understand the effect of healing, he added truth to the work." (excerpt from EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 5.2-3) (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on 1 John 5:5-13 shares that belief, John tells us, goes beyond intellectually accepting a doctrine of the Church. It also involves accepting the “testimony” of three core elements of Jesus’ life: “the Spirit, the water, and the Blood” (1 John 5:8, 9).
The Spirit testified to Jesus from the very start. It was the Spirit who overshadowed Mary at her Annunciation so that she conceived a child who would “be called holy, the Son of God” (Luke 1:35)...
The water testified to Jesus when John baptized him in the Jordan River. It enveloped him and covered him with all the sins of the world—including our own—so that he could carry them to the cross…
The blood testified to Jesus when it flowed from his hands, feet, and side on the cross. As it spilled out onto the earth, that precious blood bore with it the power of Jesus’ love even for those who caused him such agony:
The Spirit who fills us. The water that refreshes us and brings us joy. And the blood that redeems us. Holding fast to these three witnesses, we can overcome everything!
“All praise to you, Jesus, for giving me a share in your victory!” (Meditation on 1 John 5:5-13, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler comments that the reading in the last chapter of 1 John is a concluding message. It reminds us the “world” is that part of reality that opposes Jesus as the author warns of concupiscence in our environment. Jesus' testimony is presented in water, blood, Spirit and Flesh. The Passage implies Jesus coming in the Spirit in the Water of Baptism and in the Body in the Eucharist. We live in Jesus through the Sacraments. We are already living His promise when He lives in us In life. The leper asks Jesus for healing and He extends His cleanliness to the leper. In Luke, Jesus tries to fulfill the commandments of the Law. Note that as a Stoic, Luke would hold to a pattern in life from God. Friar Jude reminds us that just as Jesus goes to a desert place to recharge, we have to recharge too, so we renew our will to follow Christ.
Father Richard Rohr introduces Episcopal Bishop Barbara Harris (1930–2020) who describes how encountering Jesus offers each of us an opportunity to make a choice for wisdom.
My friends, we thirst after many things in this world. We thirst after money, power, prestige, position. We put our trust in them; we may even pray for them. But like our Lord, we are at a crossroads in the church and in society. We still have a choice and the question our Lord is asking us is, “Do we have a thirst for the kingdom?”
Jesus is asking us, “Are we content to settle for the temporary thirst quenchers of life: the material values of this world, the right connections, the proper credentials, the things on which this society places so much value, things that will never slake the thirst of your parched, dry souls? Or do you thirst for righteousness, for peace, for justice, for the liberation of all God’s people?” (Rohr, n.d.)
We are reminded that the Sacraments provide a real connection with the healing and support offered by Christ to the workers in His vineyard as they strive to cultivate full life in the Kingdom of God.
References
Crawford, D. (2026, January 9). Daily Reflection January 9, 2026 | Creighton Online Ministries. Creighton Online Ministries. Retrieved January 9, 2026, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-january-9-2026
Luke, CHAPTER 5 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved January 9, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/5?12
Meditation on 1 John 5:5-13. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved January 9, 2026, from https://wau.org/meditations/2026/01/09/1477008/
1 John, CHAPTER 5 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved January 9, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1john/5?5
Psalms, PSALM 147 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved January 9, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/147?12
Rohr, R. (n.d.). A Thirst for the Good News. CAC.org. Retrieved January 9, 2026, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/a-thirst-for-the-good-news/
Schwager, D. (n.d.). Lord, You Can Make Me Clean. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved January 9, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/
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