Reflecting on healing of leper, Pope stresses God’s ‘nearness, compassion, and tenderness’ (Vatican Press Office)

During his February 14 Sunday Angelus address (video), Pope Francis said that in the healing of the leper (Mark 1:40-45), “we can see two ‘transgressions’ that intersect: the transgression of the leper who draws near to Jesus, and should not have done so; and Jesus who, moved with compassion, touches him compassionately to heal him . . . Jesus reveals that God, who is not indifferent, does not keep himself at a ‘safe distance.’”