Gospel (Mk 1,40-45) - At that time, a leper came to Jesus: he begged him on his knees and said: "If you want, you can heal me!". Moved with compassion, he stretched out his hand, touched him and said: "I want it, get well!". Immediately the leprosy disappeared and he was healed. And, admonishing him severely, he sent him away and said to him: "Be careful not to say anything to anyone, but go, present yourself to the priest, and offer for your purification what Moses commanded, as a testimony for them." But he, having moved away, began to proclaim and spread the fact, to the point that Jesus could no longer enter a city publicly, but stayed outside, in deserted places, and they came to him from everywhere.

The commentary on the Gospel by Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia

Jesus' preaching in Galilee lasted several weeks and, during this period, he performed various miracles, including this one involving a leper. As is known, lepers were condemned to marginalization, for fear of contagion. Their condition was considered "impure" and excluded them from the very presence of God. In that leper there is the whole host of those who still today have no hope of recovery, are distanced from men and think they are forgotten even by God. That leper he got on his knees and invoked healing from Jesus, the only person who had not pushed him away. The evangelist Mark notes that Jesus, when he saw him, "had compassion for him". This is the origin of the miracle: moving with compassion for all the poor. Jesus heard the leper's prayer for healing and said to him: "I want it, be purified!". He then touched with his hand that leper who by law could not even be approached. All three synoptics note that Jesus touched the leper with his hand. Through this physical contact Jesus healed him, gave him back the dignity of his body and the right to live with everyone without being discriminated against anymore. Shouldn't the many lepers of today have the same trust in us, disciples of Jesus, that that leper placed in the young prophet of Nazareth? From the encounter between the trust of the leper and the emotion of Jesus, that miracle emerged. Jesus, perhaps to prevent him from being persecuted because he had violated the prescription, admonished him not to say anything, but to present himself to the priests and offer what was prescribed. But that man, full of joy, did not hold back from spreading the news and communicated the overflowing joy that he felt. This evangelical scene is announced to us so that we too can listen to the cry of the poor as Jesus listened to it and, with his help, we too can "work" the miracles that he himself did and broaden the joy of the poor in this world of ours.