What strikes me in the gospel for today is the element of choice. The leper kneeling before Jesus plaintively begs: "If you choose, you can make me clean." (Mk 1: 40) In contemporary society I argue that we have a "religion" of choice. A woman can choose to kill her unborn infant through abortion. A seriously ill or elderly person can choose to be killed by a medical practitioner. Advertising glorifies the power of the customer (who is always right) to choose the product of his or her choice. An individual can choose to identify as male or female and even oblige others to acknowledge that choice by using the pronouns consequently accepted by that individual. Choice is important because it presumes freedom. Freedom as personal autonomy or self-determination, however, is not, according to Catholic moral theology, random. human beings are free to choose the good. It is not permitted to choose or discern between good and evil. Evil is the absence of the good and thus is corrosive of freedom or autonomy. Sin is an abuse of freedom that means we are held in thrall to evil and the more serious the sin the more serious the impediment of our freedom. In the gospel today Jesus, "moved with pity," makes a choice: "I do choose. Be made clean!" (Mk 1: 41) Amazingly, he also chooses to touch the leper and thus be made unclean. The question for us today, who have chosen: to come to Mass, to follow Jesus, to listen to his Word, to receive his Body and Blood in the Blessed Sacrament is - what do I choose to do in response to this incredible love? Do I choose to allow the Holy Spirit to mold me and conform me in the image of Christ? Do I have the courage to make the choice to "live as Christ"?
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