Martin Jumbam
The Universal Church celebrates Sunday, February 11, 2018, the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, as the sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B. In the entrance antiphon, we pray: "Be my protector, O God, a mighty stronghold to save me. For you are my rock, my stronghold! Lead me, guide me, for the sake of the name, your name. Amen.”
On this 6th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Mother Church also celebrates the 26th World Day of the Sick. In his message of this day on the theme, “Behold your son … Behold your mother. And from that day, the disciple took her into his home” (Jn 19: 26-27), Pope Francis says that the Church’s mission is a response to Jesus’ gift, for she knows that she must bring to the sick the Lord’s own gaze, full of tenderness and compassion.”
It is appropriate that on this day that Mother Church dedicates to the sick of the world, the dreadful disease of leprosy should be at the center of our readings. During the time of Moses, leprosy was not only incurable, but lepers were segregated from the rest of the community. The leper was considered ‘unclean’ and had to spend the rest of his life outside the community in suffering and mourning. Today’s first reading speaks of the rules established by Moses for the lepers in Israel. In the second reading, Paul tells his converts of Corinth that they should become all for all, just as Christ gave himself for all men. Taking Christ as the model, he urges them to “Take me as your model, as I take Christ,” a piece of advice directed to each one of us today. The Gospel reading from Mark speaks of Jesus’ power to heal the sick. It is said that he cured all kinds of illnesses, including the much dreaded leprosy. Let us pray to God, in the course of this Eucharist, to forgive us and heal our spiritual wounds, especially the leprosy of sin, so that our interior life may be renewed in Christ Jesus.
First Reading: Lev 13:1-2,44-46.
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, "If someone has on his skin a scab or pustule or blotch which appears to be the sore of leprosy, he shall be brought to Aaron, the priest, or to one of the priests among his descendants. If the man is leprous and unclean, the priest shall declare him unclean by reason of the sore on his head. "The one who bears the sore of leprosy shall keep his garments rent and his head bare, and shall muffle his beard; he shall cry out, 'Unclean, unclean!' As long as the sore is on him he shall declare himself unclean, since he is in fact unclean. He shall dwell apart, making his abode outside the camp."
V/ The word of the Lord.
R/ Thanks be to God.
Comment
The first five books of the Old Testament are Genesis, which deals with the origin of the world, of mankind and of the people of Israel; Exodus, which recounts the escape of the Israelites from Egypt; Leviticus, from where our reading is taken, which deals with the priestly class of Israel and on the laws on holiness and worship; Numbers, which recounts the censuses and lists of those who came out of Egypt and wandered about in the desert for forty years, and Deuteronomy, the second law which Moses laid down before the entry into the Promised Land.
Chapters 13 and 14 of Leviticus contain regulations on leprosy, its treatment and purification after contact with the disease. In those days, leprosy was incurable and because it was an infectious disease, every effort had to be made to keep it from spreading. It was widely held as being a punishment for some sin.
Life was very difficult for a person with leprosy and he had to live outside the settlements or camps away from the towns. When traveling about, he had to warn people he was coming by shouting “Unclean! Unclean!” He wore his clothes torn and hair uncombed. All this was meant to make him stand out, so that people could avoid him easily. People held leprosy in such dread that members of families even fled from their own relatives who were suffering from this disease.
Their affliction was generally held to be a punishment from God for their sins. For example, Miriam, Moses’ sister, was leprous for a while and she is said to have contracted leprosy because she murmured against her brother, Moses (Numbers 12: 1-10). Also, the suffering servant of Yahweh is portrayed as having leprosy, an affliction God sent him on account of our sins (Is 53:4); and Job, who had something like leprosy, was accused by his friends and family members of having committed some terrible, hidden sin.
We often come across wretched lepers in the Gospels, on whom Jesus has compassion and makes them clean. There is, for example, the ten lepers (Lk 17: 11-19) whom he cures and only one of them, a Samaritan, comes back to thank him. The curing of the lepers was one of the signs of the messianic times prophesied in the Old Testament (Mt 11:5). Our Lord gives the apostles the power to cure lepers (Mt 10:8).
The sins we commit each day are the leprosy of our souls. We pray for the grace to come to our Lord, as the leper does in the Gospel reading of this day, to ask him to heal our souls of all traces of sin. We make our supplication through Jesus Christ, your Son and our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in unity with the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.
Second Reading: 1 Co 10: 31-11:1
Brothers and sisters, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God. Avoid giving offense, whether to the Jews or Greeks or the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in every way, not seeking my own benefit but that of the many, that they may be saved. Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.
V/ The word of the Lord.
R/ Thanks be to God.
Comment
In the passage before this one, Saint Paul addresses some behavior among his converts that could likely cause scandal and discredit the Christian faith. He says that there is no objection to eating meat bought in the market but food that is derived from sacrifices should be avoided only if there is need to avoid giving scandal. Each person is morally responsible not only for his own actions but also for the influence his behavior has on the good or bad actions of others. Therefore one must avoid actions that could lead others to commit sin.
He continues, in the short passage of this day, that in everything a Christian does, even in things that may look unimportant, like eating and drinking, he or she should seek the glory of God, by always acting with the best of intentions. In the case of meals, the practice of saying grace before and after helps us to be mindful of the fact that the food we eat is a gift from God for which we are thankful.
Commenting on this verse, Saint Basil says “When we sit down to eat, pray. When we eat bread, do so thanking him for being so generous to you. If you drink wine, be mindful of him who has given it to you for your pleasure and as a relief in sickness. When you dress, thank him for his kindness in providing you with clothes. When you look at the sky and the beauty of the stars, throw yourself at God’s feet and adore him who in his wisdom has arranged things in this way. Similarly, when the sun goes down and when it rises, when you are asleep or awake, give thanks to God, who created and arranged all things for your benefit, to have you know, love and praise their Creator.”
Gospel acclamation: “Alleluia, alleluia. A great prophet has arisen in our midst, God has visited his people. Alleluia.”
Gospel: Mk 1: 40-45
A leper came to Jesus and kneeling down begged him and said, "If you wish, you can make me clean." Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched him, and said to him, "I do will it. Be made clean." The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean. Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once. He said to him, "See that you tell no one anything, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them." The man went away and began to publicize the whole matter. He spread the report abroad so that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly. He remained outside in deserted places, and people kept coming to him from everywhere.
V/ The Gospel of the Lord.
R/ Praise be to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Comment
As we saw in the first reading, leprosy was considered a punishment from God for sins committed. And since leprosy was contagious, the Law of Moses declared that lepers were impure and that they transmitted their impurity to those who touched them and to places they entered. They therefore had to live apart.
It is therefore strange that the leper in this Gospel reading finds himself inside the city. He must have heard of how Jesus was curing the sick and came looking for a chance to approach him. Finding him at last, he breaks the strict law of Moses to speak to Christ, his only hope. This man’s faithful and confident prayer moves Jesus to help him immediately. “This man prostrates himself on the ground,” writes Saint Bede, “as a sign of humility and shame, to teach each of us to be ashamed of the stains of his life. But shame should not prevent us from confessing: the leper shows his wound and begs for healing. If you will, he says, you can make me clean: that is, he recognizes that the Lord has the power to cure him.”
In this extraordinary scene, Jesus takes pity on the leper and makes the surprising gesture of stretching out his hand and touching him with the words: “I can, be healed”. Where everyone else is running away from the leper, Jesus, who could have healed him from a distance, actually stretches out his hand and touches him and expels the leprosy from him.
As he has just healed the leper, so is he willing and ready at anytime to heal us of our own weaknesses and sins. As Saint Jose Maria Escriva, the founder of the Opus Dei movement says, Christ is “our physician, and he cures our selfishness if we but let his grace penetrate into the depths of our soul. Jesus has taught us that the worst sickness is hypocrisy, the pride that leads us to conceal our sins. We have to be totally sincere with him. We have to tell the whole truth: Lord, if you will – and you are always willing – you can heal me of my sickness” and he will.
In a homily he gave on February 17, 1985, Pope John Paul II (today Saint John Paul II), said, among other things, that “When he heals, when he cures us of leprosy, our Lord performs great miracles. These miracles reveal God’s power over the sicknesses of the soul – over sin. (…) Jesus cures the physical illness, and at the same time frees us from sin. In this way, he shows himself to be the Messiah whose coming had been foretold by the prophets.”
We must learn from this leper. He goes before Our Lord sincerely and kneeling, admits his disease, humbly asking to be cured. Our Lord, the fount of all compassion, is touched by his humility and cures him without hesitation. We can only imagine the joy of this man, who has lived as an outcast in his society all his life. He will now be able to regain a place in the assembly of his people. No doubt his joy is so great that he cannot keep it for himself, despite his promise to Jesus to do so.
This is an unforgettable day for the leper. May we too make everyday of our lives an unforgettable encounter with the Lord! Every friend we help along the pathway to the Lord’s house, will never forget the peace and joy of that encounter with the Master. In turn, he or she will become an apostle who will spread the good news of Christ salvation, the same way this leper does, in season and out of season, wherever he or she may be today.
On this 26th World Day of the Sick, let us join Pope Francis to pray for those who bring healing to the sick. Lord Jesus, bless our doctors, nurses, priests, consecrated men and women, volunteers, families and all those who care for the sick. It is a shared responsibility that enriches the value of the daily service given by each. We make our supplication through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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