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Things to talk about:

• Consider the leper in this Gospel story. How strong was his faith in Jesus? How easy or hard is it to have faith today? What prayer have you had answered in an unexpected way? What did you learn?
• Why do you think Jesus didn’t want the leper to tell anyone except the priest that he was healed?
• Why do you think the man told everyone anyway?
• Have you ever felt isolated or alone? How can we show our solidarity with those who have been marginalized?

Things to do:

• ·As we approach Valentine’s Day, find ways to show love by doing Random Acts of Kindness Scavenger Hunt. As a family create a checklist of 15 acts of kindness and distribute the checklist to each family member. The goal is to complete all 15 acts in a week. Spend time sharing over a special dinner and ask how it made everyone feel. Discuss which tasks were easy and which were difficult. Click HERE for some ideas/suggestions.
• In this Gospel, Jesus shows mercy to the leper. In what part of Mass do we ask Jesus to have mercy on us? What are the words we say at Mass when we ask for mercy?
• Please click the link to sign up for a few items for the mercy bags for Family Faith @ Church the week of March 3. Click HERE to see the items needed for your family’s session.

Closing Prayer

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Prayer for Black History Month

Spirit of Abundance, God of Grace, Mother of Hope, we pause now to remember those stories that are all around us, but so often passed over, Those stories that when told are shared because of what someone is, not who they are.

This month in our nation’s character Is Black History month. Help us to realize that Black history is All our histories. Give those full of fear – hope. May we come to know grace, so that our hearts will not be hardened to the pain around us. We are most human when we see the humanity in others. Amen.            

Adapted from www.xavier.edu/jesuitresource/online-resources/prayer-index/prayers-for-black-history-month1

Name those who need our prayers. Close with the Sign of the Cross.

Catholic Insights

In Jesus’ time people with leprosy had to live apart from the community, which only added to their suffering. Imagine how that felt. When the leper approaches Jesus his words surprisingly express an uncertainty not about Jesus’ ability to heal, but Jesus’ desire to help him. To make a point, Jesus cures the leper through touch, even though touching him may risk sharing a leper’s uncleanliness and marginalization.

Jesus tells the leper to “say nothing.” Jesus is focused on making the work of God known rather than making himself known. When Jesus heals the leper, it is not only revealed to us who he is — one who loves deeply and shows compassion — but also shows that God’s kingdom has arrived.  Like the leper, when we come before God in the Sacrament of Reconciliation we ask to be healed and restored. How does receiving God’s forgiveness change you? Turn to Jesus!

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Did you know? … Leprosy (Hansen’s disease) is an infectious disease caused by a slow-growing bacteria. If left untreated, it can cause nerve damage that can result in crippling of hands and feet, paralysis, and blindness. The bacteria that causes leprosy was discovered by G. H. Armauer Hansen in Norway in 1873. The first effective treatment (promin) became available in the 1940s. In the 1950s, dapsone was introduced. Learn about St. Damien of Molkai who cared for those who had leprosy.