1 Samuel 4:1-11 / Mark 1:40-45
There are quite a few one-worded questions, eg. “How?” “Where?” “Who?” “When?” and “Why?”
Of course the context and the content of the one-worded question must be known before an answer or reply can be given.
It is also assumed that one party asks the question and another party gives the answer.
It may not sound that right if one were to ask the question and then reply to it.
This seems to be the case in the 1st reading, when the defeated Israelites asked why did the Lord allowed them to be defeated.
But even before reflecting deeper upon the reason, they immediately decided to take out the Ark of the Covenant and bring it into the battlefield, without even consulting the Lord.
That decision was a terrible and fatal one for the Israelites.
In the gospel, the leper would have been asking why did he have to suffer such a disease.
But when he came before Jesus, it was not to ask why but to plead for a cure.
Today’s reading may teach us at times, asking questions may not give satisfactory answers or directions.
Instead, like the leper, let us come before the Lord in our fragility and humility and we will receive the depths of God’s mercy.