The Israelites had a secret weapon: the Ark of the Covenant. They thought that by bringing it into battle they would be assured of victory. Powerful as the Ark was, it was not to be — the Israelites were soundly defeated by the courageous Philistines. God is not a secret weapon, and religion should never be used to achieve power and domination over others. Perhaps that is why the Israelites lost the battle. The most powerful tools we can have in our arsenal are love, justice, mercy, kindness, purity of heart, and generosity — and when we have those, we will not want to dominate others.

The leper was so used to having people run away in disgust and fear that he was afraid to even ask Jesus for healing. He timidly suggested that Jesus could heal him — but only if he wanted to! Jesus, moved with compassion, was shocked at the man’s timidity. ‘Of course I want to, be healed!’ Sometimes our own fear and negative feelings about ourselves blocks us from receiving help and healing from God. We need to really believe in our heart of hearts that God is compassionate, merciful, and eager to help us in our need. It takes two to make a miracle — God and us!