Pastor's Letter 20210214 - 14 February 2021 - Spiritually Unclean

Father Michael · February 14, 2021

February 14th, 2021

Sixth Sunday-Ordinary Time

Today’s Theme: “Spiritually Unclean”

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Jesus heals the Leper

A Message from Father †Michael

Reflection on today’s Scripture Readings

Today’s First Reading (Leviticus 13,) and Gospel (Mark 1:40-45,) deal with leprosy* and uncleanliness; but transferred to another plane: the uncleanliness of one’s heart through sin. Sinners are unhappy outcasts and the Lord Jesus came to show care for them. Breaking through all the religious and social taboos, He reached out a loving and healing hand to lepers. In this way, we see modeled how a Christian community should deal with sinners and social outcasts. In some sense, each of us is a sinner who fails, and should turn to the Lord for help. Christians have been “cleansed” from sin in Baptism, and we are called to spread the “Good News.”

Jesus’ Kindness

Lepers of Jesus’ time were considered “untouchables,” and forced to live outside the normal community. In ancient societies, victims of leprosy were ostracized from society, due to their disfiguring, and, at the time, incurable disease. In Biblical times, people did not touch lepers for fear of contagion. Victims were both social outcasts, and in the religious sphere. In spite of many medical advances for the afflicted, thousands of lepers still today are considered “unclean,” contagious and dangerous, living in third world leper colonies, often in utter misery and filth.

Lepers of Jesus’ day suffered a cold, lonely existence. Banished from home, family and friends, they were “nobody” by any estimation. Their lives were a “living death.” People believed them to have been cursed by God, and they were seen as the epitomé of uncleanliness.

This was the kind of man who approached Jesus, in today’s Gospel selection. Such a person should not have appeared in public without ringing a bell, or shouting a warning. In being so bold, he would have run the risk of being chased away with stones thrown by fearful citizens. But this man was determined to meet the one Man he believed would not reject him.

Seeing the pitiable state of the man, Jesus reached out and touched him. (This symbolic act surely shocked the onlookers, because in doing so, Jesus became “ritually unclean,” in their estimation, simply by touching him.) Even today, most people are afraid (on some level) of the “sick” and the “poor.” We may give a beggar a small donation, if pressed, but we maintain a discreet distance from them, and surely avoid physical contact. (Consider how paranoid people have become during our ongoing COVID pandemic—a disease with far less social stigmata and infectious properties….)

In contrast, most people feel honored whenever someone important shakes our hand, or gives us a “pat on the back!” Physical contact is precisely what gives people, especially sick and wounded people, a sense of warmth and joy. The very act of touching another person indicates we accept them exactly as they are. Jesus’ actions ignored convention when He touched lepers, sinners, sick people and the dead….

We can only imagine how good that leper must have felt at Jesus’ touch. He must have been gratified simply to be considered a human being. His body was horribly wounded by leprosy, but his spirit was even more deeply wounded—having been abandoned and rejected by everyone, and to his mind, even by God…. Jesus’ touch healed his wounded spirit. When Jesus cured him of his disease, his body was similarly healed.

Kindness is almost as important to a sick person as any medicine. We normally expect a report of treatment received from anyone who comes out of a hospital, after an operation or bout of illness. So, it would have been for the leper. Although Jesus then asked him to keep quiet about his cure, he broadcast everywhere what Jesus had done for him, as is human habit. We can assume his accolades would have included the astonishing kindness and respect Jesus offered him.

By way of example, in reaching out a loving and healing hand towards a “pariah” of His day, Jesus challenges us to reach out to the rejects in our own society, as well.

Importance of the Small Gesture

Sometimes, little gestures can give us greater insight into a person’s character than big ones. Big things show us a person’s power. But the little ones display a person’s humanity. Jesus example of touching the leper is just such a “small thing,” but it demonstrated how to greatly affect a person’s dignity and value.

Jesus knew all the social taboos, but he also knew that in offering His tolerance for one clearly outside the societal norm, He demonstrating how we should accept others, as they are.

Rejection, for most people, is extremely heartfelt. To avoid it, we seek ways of insulating ourselves—risking little, wanting or needing nothing and avoiding relationships. It seems better, at times, to build walls around ourselves, than risk suffering rejection.

When we reject people, we are, in effect, treating them as “lepers,” even though we may not be conscious of this. And it may be done by small or subtle ways: the tone of our voice, or even by a off-handed “look.”

When we simply allow ourselves to be compassionate and look beyond the surface, acknowledging another’s worth, without judgment, we can affect their lives in dramatic ways. This may well challenge our ideas concerning love of our neighbor, at times. But each of us has untapped capacity for loving. It’s amazing what our compassion can do for a person in terms of rekindling hope; bringing back a zest for living; inspiring plans for the future; and restoring self-respect and pride. Even more, such small gestures can mirror the infinite charity of God. May God Richly Bless You!

*Hippocrates is thought to have described the symptoms of leprosy as early as 460 B.C., and skeletal evidence from 2000 B.C. has been discovered. Norway’s Dr. Gerhard Hansen is credited for discovering the causative agent, a bacterium named Microsporium Leprae, in 1873. Leprosy is routinely called “Hansen’s disease,” in recognition of his work. An effective treatment wasn’t developed until the 1940s. Each year, as many as 150 people contract the disease in the US, with up to 250,000 cases diagnosed, worldwide.

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