See that you tell no one anything

Heb 3,7-14; Ps 94; Mk 1,40-45
17 JANUARY
Moses splits the Red Sea in two and makes the children of Israel pass on dry feet in the middle of the divided waters that form a wall, and immediately a song of praise, blessing and thanksgiving is raised to the Lord who had admirably triumphed.

Thus the Lord saved Israel on that day from the power of the Egyptians. When Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the seashore and beheld the great power that the Lord had shown against the Egyptians, they feared the Lord and believed in him and in his servant Moses Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord: I will sing to the Lord, for he is gloriously triumphant; horse and chariot he has cast into the sea. My strength and my courage is the Lord, and he has been my saviour. He is my God, I praise him; the God of my father, I extol him. The Lord is a warrior, Lord is his name! Pharaoh’s chariots and army he hurled into the sea; the elite of his officers were submerged in the Red Sea. The flood waters covered them, they sank into the depths like a stone. Your right hand, O Lord, magnificent in power, your right hand, O Lord, has shattered the enemy. In your great majesty you overthrew your adversaries; you loosed your wrath to consume them like stubble. At a breath of your anger the waters piled up, the flowing waters stood like a mound, the flood waters congealed in the midst of the sea. The enemy boasted, “I will pursue and overtake them; I will divide the spoils and have my fill of them; I will draw my sword; my hand shall despoil them!” When your wind blew, the sea covered them; like lead they sank in the mighty waters.

Who is like to you among the gods, O Lord? Who is like to you, magnificent in holiness? O terrible in renown, worker of wonders, when you stretched out your right hand, the earth swallowed them! In your mercy you led the people you redeemed; in your strength you guided them to your holy dwelling. The nations heard and quaked; anguish gripped the dwellers in Philistia. Then were the princes of Edom dismayed; trembling seized the chieftains of Moab; All the dwellers in Canaan melted away; terror and dread fell upon them. By the might of your arm they were frozen like stone, while your people, O Lord, passed over, while the people you had made your own passed over. And you brought them in and planted them on the mountain of your inheritance –  the place where you made your seat, O Lord, the sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands established. The Lord shall reign forever and ever. They sang thus because Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and charioteers had gone into the sea, and the Lord made the waters of the sea flow back upon them, though the Israelites had marched on dry land through the midst of the sea. The prophetess Miriam, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, while all the women went out after her with tambourines, dancing; and she led them in the refrain: Sing to the Lord, for he is gloriously triumphant; horse and chariot he has cast into the sea (Ex 14,30-15,21).

Jesus performs greater miracles than those of Moses, Elijah, Elisha and imposes silence. Why does not he want his wonders to be known? Because He was not sent to free man from physical crosses, but from those of the soul, spirit, heart and mind. He came to remove Satan from the heart and put his Father. What one must cry out is conversion. I was lost and now I’m safe. I was a sinner and now I am back in the grace of my God. I was darkness and now I am light.

A leper came to him (and kneeling down) begged him and said, “If you wish, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched him, and said to him, “I do will it. Be made clean.” The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean. Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once. Then he said to him, “See that you tell no one anything, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them.” The man went away and began to publicize the whole matter. He spread the report abroad so that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly. He remained outside in deserted places, and people kept coming to him from everywhere.

For Jesus, the soul is worth more than the body. For man, the body more than the soul. Jesus asks that the miracles of the soul be cried out. The man shouts the prodigies performed in his body. Jesus works for eternal salvation. Man wants an ephemeral, momentary salvation. A healthy body and a damned soul are of no use. Who saves the soul, also saves the body for eternity. We must choose. Jesus asks us to always choose the soul.

Mother of God, Angels and Saints ensure that we choose the eternal salvation of our soul.