Last week we celebrated Chinese New Year. A common theme for celebrations are the rituals that will bring you good luck and the objects that you have to buy to bring good luck. The question is, if good luck indeed comes your way, “What type of spirit answered your prayer?” Obviously, it did not come from God.

On the other hand, for a person of faith, there is no such thing as good luck or bad luck. All happens for a reason for God who has a plan in everything. Think about Job who lost it all – family and material wealth. His friends were saying that if indeed he had not done anything wrong, why not get angry with God? What was the response? “The Lord gives, the Lord takes, praise be the name of the Lord.”

In the Gospel, we hear of a leper. During the time of Jesus, a leper was not only sick, he was isolated, and worst, there was no cure, no hope – when it rains, it pours. Yet, instead of being consumed with anger and resentment, he was actually filled with hope. Also, despite this very difficult situation, three things we can learn from the leper:

• He humbled himself – The leper begged Jesus. To beg is to humble oneself. It is a state in one’s life when one realizes that whatever he or she has, is nothing. Certainly, he was at the stage of letting go and letting God.
• He trusted God – “Lord if you wish you can make me clean.” He knew with God nothing is impossible, Certainly he has heard of the many healings that Jesus had done. Yet, he trusted whatever the decision of Jesus would be.
• He prayed – The act of kneeling is an act of prayer. Certainly, before the healing, the man was always in prayer. As Jesus tells us, “Pray unceasingly,”

In this Mass, let us remember with the healing of the leper we are reminded that God is a God of second chances. The leper’s life does not have to end in sickness, isolation and hopelessness. God cares!

That is why we continue to pray:

• First, for those who are sick, may there be healing of the body
• Second, we pray for those who live in sin, may there be conversion
• We also pray for those who find life burdensome because of one misfortune after another.

Like the leper, pray, trust God, and humble oneself. Like the leper, never lose hope. All happens for a reason because God has a plan.