In the first reading, the Israelites were in a situation of loss and defeat from the attack of the Philistines. Instead of turning to God and examining how they had disobeyed Him and failed in their covenantal relationship with Yahweh, they brought the Ark of the Covenant to battle and expected God to defeat their enemies. The result was a horrendous loss.

Sometimes, we are like the Israelites, superstitiously thinking that holy water, crucifixes, rosaries, candles, prayer cards and, the statues of holy saints, which are sacramentals, have supernatural power to save us from our peril. Our confidence and faith in God sometimes seems superficial and functional. When life's struggles come and bad things happen, we are quick to expect God to put them right in the way we want it to be.

In the Gospel reading, however, the leper came into the Lord's presence in humility as he knelt down and begged Him for healing. Consider the leper's humble plea, "If you wish, you can make me clean." He acknowledged the lordship of Jesus, and begged for His mercy. Let us have humble faith in Christ Jesus, He is the Lord. God desires to help us in our trials and deliver us from the problem of sin, but God does it His way, not ours. Like the Psalmist, we learn to pray, "Redeem us, O Lord, because of your mercy".