Reading and meditation on the Word of God on Friday of the twelfth week in ordinary time, June 26th, 2026

Delivered by Joanna from the Parish of Saint Gabriel in the Diocese of Bandung, Indonesia. 2 Kings 25: 1-812; Rs psalm 137: 1-2.3.4-5.6; Matthew 8: 1-4.OUR PURIFICATION Our meditation today is on the theme: Our Purification.We all believe that the obligation to care for our own personal hygiene is aduty that should not be neglected. There are numerous instructions and adviceto wash our hands before eating or drinking, or to ensure we are clean andodor-free when we meet others. We are truly expected not to give those aroundus a bad impression or be afraid to meet us simply because our bodies are dirtyand unhygienic. The purification refers to a person who has dirty orsores on the body and stains at the skin, that he needs to be cleansed, curedand restored to a smooth and healthy body. In Jesus' day, cleansing orpurification was associated with the lepers who were in dire need of cleansingof their affected bodies. With this cleansing, they could be accepted back intothe family and society. Jesus always provided healing both physical andspiritual, so this type of healing is a purification for soul and body. In today's world, the latest advancement of scienceand technology can indeed provide many solutions to the problems we face. Butthis cannot provide a complete healing of soul and body in all of us. To have acomplete healing, we need the power and strength of God. Faith and hope give usconfidence that our comfort and feeling at home in daily life must be our beingwith the Lord. Our soul will eventually find a perfect place to dwell which isto live forever with God. So our purification in general and very fundamentalshould be the cleansing of ourselves and the recovery of our difficulties.Perhaps many of us want that all our illnesses, difficulties and shortcomingsneed to be responded by God. That's why we dream a lot and ask for many andgreater things. Perhaps we have so much to ask for, then we forget to ask whatis the priority of our choices, namely the goodness and salvation of our souls.If we follow the example of the leper described in today's Gospel passage, weshould ask for something very essential for our purification. Our dirty andbroken souls because of sin and evil are in need of purification. What isessential is the salvation of our souls. God knows the contents of our hearts and minds. Thismeans He knows our needs. It is very wise for us to ask God what we really needand He already knows everything.Let'spray. In the name of the Father ... In Your mercy and providence, O Lord, giveus what we need today, so that we can fulfill what is the interest of ourbodies and souls. In your power and love, we surrender fully our every will andconduct. Hail Mary, full of grace ... In the name of the Father ...