Jesus had been healing many people. In today’s gospel, “A leper came to Jesus.” Given the number of people that were coming to Jesus one might think of the man with leprosy as one of many. He knelt before Jesus and begged him “If you wish, you can make me clean.” No surprise, right?
Well…, actually it would be a surprise. In coming near Jesus, in coming near anyone, the man with leprosy is breaking the Levitical code found in our first reading. It begins clearly, “If someone has on his skin a scab or pustule or blotch which appears to be the sore of leprosy,…the priest shall declare him unclean.”
What was the significance of being declared unclean?
The reading continues, “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!…He shall dwell apart, making his abode outside the camp.”
Why? So that everyone would know that the person had leprosy and stay away from them. This helped prevent the spread of leprosy.
It is the same thing we do today when a person has a contagious disease. We isolate them for the health of other people. There is one difference today. When one isolates today with a contagious disease, it is generally for no more than a few days. For people with leprosy, it could be forever. Even in the 19th century, we were still sending people with leprosy to colonies like Molokai where St. Damien of Molokia and St. Marianne Cope cared for them.
Imagine the isolation. You could not see your family or friends. I wonder which was worse, the physical effects of leprosy or the isolation?
Jesus was “moved with pity” for the man leprosy. He “touched him.” This would have been taboo. Jesus would have been considered unclean for touching the man with leprosy. Jesus then said, “I do will it. Be made clean.”
Jesus does not just “wish it” as the man had said. He “wills” it. Jesus is the Son of God. When we wish for something, it may or may not happen. When Jesus wills something, it happens by his very word. The man is healed. He is physically healed and is isolated no longer. He can rejoin his family and friends! The man went and told everyone what happened. He shared what Jesus, Son of God, had done for him. To God be the glory.
Writing to the Corinthains, Paul says, “Avoid giving offense…I try to please everyone.” It should never be our goal to offend anyone. In loving our neighbor, we should try to please others (see my recent article, “Making Others Happy”).
While offending others should never be our goal, if we follow Jesus, at times we will likely offend those who don’t. In touching the man with leprosy, Jesus would have offended those who held to a strict following of the Levitical code. Jesus followed his Sacred Heart of perfect love.
The leprosy described in the Book of Leviticus is not a major health problem today. However, there are still people who live in isolation. Some may be medically isolated for their own protection so they do not contract more disease while others may be isolated to not spread a disease they have. Today, the latter is generally temporary. Even then, we can ask ourselves if there is a way we can be present to them, a phone or video call. For those who are isolated to protect themselves, it might be a longer period of time, like a person taking chemotherapy. How can you “be present” to them? The disease is not the “sum total” of who they are. Remember they are a person who needs to feel loved.
What about a person who is not medically isolated but becomes functionally isolated? Who am I talking about? The homebound and those in nursing homes. They may not be able to go out and visit others but there may be nothing that stops people from visiting them. Do not let them feel forgotten. Visit them (a corporal work of mercy) and share your love for them.
Peace,
Fr. Jeff