6th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Fr. Leo
In the book of Leviticus we are given the law about lepers. If one is confirmed with leprosy, he or she is to dwell outside the camp, make their appearance noticeably different, and announce themselves “unclean,” where ever they go. There is no sympathy in the law. To protect the community, the “contagious” need to be separated from the community. What a horrible life for a person with leprosy. Sick, alone, and needing food, the leper of that time lived as an outcast with little, if any, compassion directed his or her way.
We contrast this passage with Mark’s gospel today. Here a desperate leper knelt down and begged Jesus to heal him with the humble statement of faith, “If you wish, you can make me clean.” Jesus, moved with pity, compassion and love, reaches out and touches the leper saying, “I do will it. Be made clean.”
What is interesting is, Jesus ends up trading places with the leper. Because the leper couldn’t keep the healing secret between the two of them, Jesus has to live in deserted places. Though the leper expressed his faith before his healing, many others sought Jesus looking only for physical healing, and, as we discussed last week, Jesus came to heal the souls of individuals and the world, not to be the miracle man on demand.
Another reason Jesus is staying away from towns, is that his compassion is being demonized by the religious leaders of his time. People want to flock to Jesus, but the religious leaders find his popularity a threat and become blind to Jesus’ extraordinary love and compassion.
Like all prophets, Jesus spoke truth to power. He simply wanted to make humble compassion and self-giving the definition of a good and holy life. This life could not be embraced by the legalist who used the laws of religion for their own gain.
On the cross, Jesus traded places with all of us. Not to pay our debt, but to bring us the compassion of his Father who sent him, not to judge, but to love and to save: to bring us into the shared life of the Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Let us pray for the gift of compassion so that compassion may be our goal and guide in all things. Let us learn to say, “I love you,” as God has said this to us in Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit. May God bless us, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.