Thursday 13 January 2022
St Hilary
1 Samuel 4:1-11. Save us, Lord, in your mercy – Psalm 43(44):10-11, 14-15, 24-25. Mark 1:40-45.
We matter to God
Saint Hilary (310-367) was a French Bishop, teacher and scholar. A Doctor of the Church, his many books and powerful defence of Christianity make him a patron of lawyers. The Roman Empire which had dominated Europe and the Mediterranean for centuries was declining. Like the disastrous defeat of Israel, Rome would fall (4 September 476 CE), its treasures looted, and its civilisation obliterated. The psalm laments ‘You have made us like sheep for the slaughter,’ and this image could well describe the impact of COVID-19 on our world. Has God forgotten us? Consider the extraordinary encounter between Jesus and the leper. Diseased, exiled and forsaken, the leper’s ‘if you want to…’ reflects defeat. But Jesus’ vigorous ‘I do choose,’ is framed by the words ‘moved’, ‘pity’, ‘stretch’ and ‘touch’. The leper’s healing costs Jesus, sabotaging his mobility to spread the Good News. Our God is neither distant, nor cold: we matter.
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