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
the first reading we have Moses and Aaron speak to the people of the greatness of
God and since they are holy the people have to avoid all that is unclean. Certain
rituals had to be observed in case of serious illness. In the second reading Paul
tells us that every human activity can give glory to God. Taking Paul as our model,
we are called upon to imitate Christ who always sought to help others. Everyone in
the community is to reflect Christ in their words and behaviour. 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 is to protect the community from any disease
suffered by an individual. Once it was determined that a person was unclean, that
person was expected to move outside the community, wear torn clothes, leave their
hair disarranged, cover their lip and cry out, "Unclean, unclean." He had to live
in isolation and this would last as long as the person was inflicted with the skin
disease. Leprosy made a person an outcast both socially and religiously. 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 behaviour of each and every Christian. The Christian behaviour 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. The Christian, who has
a spiritual heart, must be always ready to sacrifice himself in the interest of the
others and the Church. This is because a true Christian does everything for the glory
of God so that he may dwell in the Divine Presence of Jesus. The true Christian is
ready to sacrifice his ways in service to the others so that they may be saved. Contrary
to this, one can decide to have his own way and behave in an unacceptable way that
scandalizes others. 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.” This was a bold move
on the part of the leper, given the seriousness of the disease and the problem of
uncleanness. He comes with confidence to Jesus and places his trust in him with the
sure hope that this prophet is capable of healing him and he could rejoin the society. 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
of his leprosy. Having cleansed the leper Jesus sent him to fulfill the ritual prescribed
by law, to meet the priests and be restored to society. He did not defy the convention
and regulation of the time but submitted to it. Here we see the compassion, power
and wisdom of Jesus manifested in the simple miracle of healing. Jesus considered
every person as precious and valuable. 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 person is expected to freely proclaim the Gospel
and spread the Good News to all. This is exactly what the cured leper did. He was
excited with his healing and he could rejoin the community. He had found the truth,
the way and the life in Jesus. He went ahead and shared it with others proclaiming
the messianic message. At the same time, it should be noted that the actions of the
leper, contrary to Jesus' command to say nothing to anyone, made it difficult for
Jesus to openly speak in the towns because the people would have tried to make Him
their leader, their King. As such, Jesus had to distance Himself in the country in
order to continue His work. 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. This attitude of his makes him touch the person and accept
him as he is. This is shown in his life whenever he preaches and works any miracle.
Seeing the crowd that was hungry he had compassion on them and he fed them with human
and divine food. He had compassion the widow of Naim and raised her son back to life.
He had compassion on the woman caught in adultery and protected her. He had compassion
on his disciples caught in the storm and went to them walking on water to bring them
to safety. Here he has compassion on the leper and heals to restore him into the
society. 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 fulfil 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. The popularity
of Jesus greatly increased everywhere he attempted to go. This does not mean that
people really understood who Jesus was. There is no indication that this publicity
increased the faith and understanding of people about him. He was known as a miracle
worker and perhaps a liberator who was not afraid to touch even the lepers. At the
same time there is an interesting paradox. In the beginning Jesus could move freely
and the leper was cut off. As the story ended the situation was reversed. The leper
went off cured into the company of people, while it was impossible for Jesus to enter
a town openly. Jesus had taken in reality the leper’s pace. In order to avoid superficial
praise he had to stay away from people, outside the towns. Even then crowds came
to him and misunderstood of his identity which will ultimately be revealed at the
foot of the cross. 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 favour 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: If you want you can heal
me and Jesus responds. Our Christian prayer Our Father is a prayer of Petition where
we ask God for bread, forgiveness and protection. The prayer of Jesus at Gethsemane
was the beautiful account of the prayer of petition and the instance where God responded
differently. The miracle of the healing of the leper shows how efficacious is the
prayer of Petition and God answers this prayer when we pray to him with sincerity
and open heart. 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. In the process of healing Jesus
touched the leper and in doing so he rendered himself ritually unclean, opened himself
to the risk of contagion but expressed solidarity with the sick man. It reminds one
of Francis of Assisi overcoming his own fear and loathing by embracing a leper he
met on the road. The healed person is now the messenger of God and he goes on telling
people of the good news. For him it was new experience and new life and he cannot
stop speaking about it. The word of God calls us today to be committed wholeheartedly
to sacrificing ourselves so that we will not offend our brothers and sisters in Christ.
We must enjoy a spirit of togetherness in the hope of drawing everyone to the presence
of Jesus. Our God is there right in our midst and he wants us in his mission. He
will use us to touch and change others in ways that we do not expect or hope for. 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.” This event
was the turning point in the life of him who was to become St Martin of Tours.