11-Feb-24 (Mark 1:40-45)

In our gospel story for today, Jesus heals a man who had a very serious skin disease. It was so bad, in fact that he and anyone else who had this disease would have to call out to people while they were still at a distance and warn them not to come any closer.
You can probably imagine that the man was lonely and wondering if God cared about him. Jesus healed the man. He didn't do it to show off or to prove something. The story tells us that Jesus healed him because he had compassion for him. Jesus cared about the man and wanted him to be able to be back with his friends and family. That's what compassion means.
We can show compassion for other people like Jesus did. We might not be able to heal them, but we can spend time with them and help them with what they need.
Let's pray about that.

Prayer:

God, who gave us Jesus to help us understand you and especially to know how much you love us, help us to remember how you've showed compassion for us and help us to show compassion for others. Help us to be like Jesus and show others how much you care for them.
In the name of Jesus, our Christ, AMEN