Gospel Luke 5:12-16
Jesus was in one of the towns when a man appeared, covered with leprosy. Seeing Jesus he fell on his face and implored him. ‘Sir,’ he said ‘if you want to, you can cure me.’ Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him and said, ‘Of course I want to! Be cured!’ And the leprosy left him at once. He ordered him to tell no one, ‘But go and show yourself to the priest and make the offering for your healing as Moses prescribed it, as evidence for them.’
His reputation continued to grow, and large crowds would gather to hear him and to have their sickness cured, but he would always go off to some place where he could be alone and pray.
It would be a temptation to use this as a pretext for a way of prayer that was reclusive, disconnected from people, hidden some place, and alone. But prayer is always about otherness. Prayer deepens the context in which relationship takes place. It draws me into that kind of interiority that demands justice, honesty, humility and compassion. It is a true source of life in its depths.