Our Lenten desert experience is about being purified and washed clean, trained and disciplined in testing and in recognising the great temptations in our lives, so that we can give ourselves completely to God.

We who receive the ashes today seek to convert our hearts again to the Lord, who suffered, died and rose for our salvation.

In this story of the healing of the leper, we can place ourselves into the healing hands of Jesus. We can be the one kneeling before him, begging him. And we can hear his beautiful words spoken to us: “I do will it, be made clean”. We can experience first-hand, the pity and compassion of Jesus.

Remember, Jesus wants us to be a Church, a community, and we cannot be fully Christian apart from a real relationship with those who God has given to us in our community.

When we acknowledge Jesus as the true and ultimate authority of our lives, we know the truth and we experience radical freedom.

This is the message of Jesus that made such an impression on his listeners and why it continues to touch our hearts today and make them burn within us.

God calls each person individually and directly. We are not just numberless sheep for God. He knows us personally and calls us by name into a loving relationship with himself. He makes us collaborators, giving us a mission.

God interacts with each of us personally and individually, calling us by name. We are encouraged to respond to this call by deepening our relationship with Jesus, despite our imperfections, doubts, and the distractions of the world, so that we can find true happiness and fulfillment in God.

Today, we acknowledge and renew within ourselves that our baptism has put us into a profound grace-filled relationship with God.

This story of the magi, the wise men, seeking out the Christ-child, speaks to us of our own search for God.