Something important is happening in today’s Gospel: a man with leprosy asked to be cleansed. It is not so much the miracle that is important, though significant, but this man recognized his own desperate situation. From that and through his faith he asked Jesus for help.

In our daily life, in our daily prayers, do we take a moment to recognize our own shortcomings, our own sins? And do we, like the man with leprosy, have the courage to admit that we need help from our Savior?

Sin blinds us from seeing the truth of who we are and what we do. It often keeps us isolated, it ruptures relationships, it promotes undesirable feelings. We must be audacious to admit our faults, errors, offenses, and go to Christ for assistance. We must always keep in mind that the love of Jesus is unconditional and he accepts us for all we are and all we are not. He loved the man with leprosy so much he cleansed his body, and so, too, he loves us and will give us the exact same treatment. Like the leper, we just have to ask and believe that we need “only say the word and [our] soul shall be healed.”

—Damian Torres-Botello, S.J. is a Jesuit scholastic currently studying philosophy at Loyola University Chicago.