Fr. Eugene Lobo SJ.
Sixth Sunday of the year February 11, 2024
Leviticus 13:1-2, 45-46; 1 Corinthians 10:31-11:1; Mark 1:40-45
We have been witnessing an unprecedented desire from so many people to do something in order to alleviate the pain, the sorrow and the hurt in the lives of people. A little gesture can give us a great insight into a person’s character displaying the person’s humanity. All of us are social beings and have been created for community and are called to live our faith in and with a community.
Our Christian commitment demands us to look into the needs of others. God has given us the blessing to belong to others in the community of the church and in the community of the world. We must appreciate these blessings God has given us and be at the service of others. In the Gospel we have the healing of the leper by Jesus. The leper comes to Jesus with a request to be healed and Jesus has pity on the person and touches him and tells him that he wants him to be healed. The person once healed goes on proclaiming to all the miraculous deed of Jesus.
In today’s First Reading from the Book of Leviticus we heard of society’s treatment towards those who suffered temporary skin disorders. The passage belongs to legislation regarding purity. The explicit concern in this reading is any skin disorder in the community of Israel. Such physical disorders were relatively easy to identify. Considering them as unclean because of their afflictions, they were isolated from the community. Besides, they were also expected to behave in a certain way during their isolation.
Although primitive hygiene considered such diseases as highly contagious, therefore requiring isolation from the community, it was the religious and social ostracism that dictated that those who were stricken by these skin disorders lacked the necessary bodily integrity to worship Yahweh. To ensure that those who worshipped Yahweh were clean, when someone was suspected of having a skin disorder, he was sent before the priest who would examine the person to determine the status of his condition according to the Law of Moses. The chief concern in this legislation was to protect the community.
Today’s Second Reading from the First Letter to the Corinthians is summarized by saying that charity is the first spiritual Law by which Christians must live. Charity must govern the behavior of each and every Christian. The Christian behavior ordains that those who shine in the light of Christ be servants of others, not offending anyone by their actions. They must not seek their own advantage, but that of the others.
The Christian who embraces a spirit mind, he is always concerned with the well-being of his brothers and sisters in Christ and the building up of the Holy Catholic Church. Paul tells the Corinthians that every human activity can give glory to God. He mentions in particular the everyday activity of eating and drinking. When we avoid offending others by what we do, we please God. However, Paul is always concerned about people helping others and in this way he imitates Christ to give example to them.
Today’s Gospel narrates the miracle of Jesus healing of a leper. Leprosy was a dreaded disease during the time of Jesus as it was in the Old Testament. In Palestine leprosy was looked upon as an incurable disease. Lepers were not meant to live in the city with the people and could not have any contact with them. They had to live on their own, away from people where their families would leave some food for them. They were considered to be truly cursed by God. If they had a reason to go to the town they would have had to carry a bell with them. They would constantly ring this bell as they walked and cried out “Unclean, Unclean”, informing people to keep away from them because they were struck with a very contagious disease.
Generally the term Leprosy was used to describe a wide variety of skin diseases and as such the person was considered to be ritually unclean according to the Law of Moses. They were excluded and isolated from the ordinary interactions of society. Here we are not given any information as to why this leper alone thought Jesus could heal him. Certainly there were other Lepers in Palestine during that time. Perhaps he had heard about the healing capacity of Jesus. He simply comes to Jesus and makes a request with the words: “If you want to, you can heal me.”
Here we have one of the most revealing pictures of Jesus, his kindness, compassion and humane attitude. He did not drive away the man who had broken the law and now was kneeling before him. By law the leper had no right to speak to him at all, but Jesus met the desperation of the human need with an understanding compassion. He encouraged him to come closer to him to make his human request. The leper showed his absolute faith in the power of Jesus to heal him even from the incurable disease. Jesus did something very human too which no ordinary person would do. Moved with pity for the poor sufferer, he stretched out his hand and touched him, a person who was considered unclean by law. For the Lord he was not someone unclean but a child of God in desperate need. Jesus told him that he wished and wanted him to be healed and cured him instantly.
Today’s Gospel echoes three messages related to dwelling in the Presence of the Lord. First of all, the miraculous healing speaks of the divine power and mercy of the Lord that includes everyone, even the lepers who were excluded from society under the Mosaic Law. Jesus came to save the lost sheep, not those who were already saved. He opens his arms to all, drawing them all to himself with his infinite healing love. Secondly, Jesus tells the cured leper not to say anything to anyone.
It is in fact in the context of Mark, a messianic secret. It was also necessary for the public ministry of Jesus for many would see him as only a miracle worker and forget his work as the divine Messiah. People would look for the temporary manifestation of power in the miracles and forget the manifestation of the power of God. Jesus did not want such things to happen. Every miracle is the external manifestation of the inner spiritual activity. The third message that is that once one is cleansed by Christ through his messianic healing the personis expected to freely proclaim the Gospel and spread the Good News to all.
The passage tells us that Jesus was moved with pity when he saw the leper kneeling before him and heals him. We see both the divine power and the divine compassion of Jesus in this act of healing. The divine power is necessary in all instantaneous cures. Even in the case of curable diseases nature takes its own time to bring about a healing. In this incurable illness the healing is immediate with the supernatural power placed in the healer. His compassion for the suffering person is also divine. It is out of compassion for the whole of humanity that Jesus became incarnate and came to earth. It is out of compassion for humanity that he died on the cross. Compassion means to suffer with and Jesus suffers with the person who is unwell and heals him.
Once the healing was done, Jesus admonishes the leper to tell no one about the incident and what had taken place. He asked him only to fulfill the ritual norms of restoration into the society. But the leper was not able to contain himself regarding the changes that had taken place in him. For him it was the new life and he felt compelled to announce the same to all. Immediately he began to spread the news everywhere. Ironically the leper did what Jesus would do by going out and preaching the word. What Jesus did not want to happen took place now through the man.
Today’s miracle is a perfect example of our Christian prayer, the prayer of petition. In its most usual form, it is a most spontaneous prayer where we express the awareness of our relationship with God and place our needs before him. It is a prayer of humility, submission and the expression of dependence on him the Almighty God. It is a prayer where we ask God for a favor and trust God will give it to us. It is a prayer where we place our complete trust in him and accept his grace and his divine response. Here the leper makes the prayer:
There is an important lesson to be learned from the healing miracle. In our spiritual work for the glory of God, we must be of one mind that we must work together, not against each other. There is no need to compete for glory in the work of the Lord for all glory goes to the Lord himself. If one seeks glory in his Christian work, then he is not of the Spirit of Christ.Jesus healed the leprous man and restored him to community and sought no publicity. We have been created for community and are called to live our faith in and with a community.
Martin was a young soldier in the Roman army. Elegantly dressed, he was mounted on his horse one day when he was accosted by a leper begging for alms. The sight and the stench of rotting flesh were so repulsive to the sensitivities of young Martin that his first instincts were to ride off on his horse. But something inside him made his walk up to the beggar. Since all he had was his military coat, he cut it in two and gave half to the leper while he wrapped himself with the other half. It was a very cold winter day. Many in the crowd thought this was so ridiculous a sight that they laughed and jeered but some realized that they were seeing Christian goodness. He was eighteen years old. That night in his dream he saw Christ clothed in a half coat saying to the angels around his throne, “Martin has clothed me with his garment.”