Feb. 14, 2021: 6th Sunday Ordinary B
Feb. 14, 2021: 6th Sunday Ordinary B
One day a religious sister and a lay volunteer were leaving a convent in New York City. As they passed by a dumpster, the religious sister immediately noticed two feet sticking out of the dumpster. The sister peered into the dumpster and asked, “Are you all right, sir?” He opened his eyes, but he didn’t make much sense because he was very drunk. He smelled like he hadn’t bathed in weeks. The sister asked, “Would you like to come with us? My brothers can get you some clean clothes and something to eat.” He agreed and rode with the sister in the station wagon. The sister asked him if he had any family members, and he replied, “Not that I have seen in at least twenty-five years, but I did have a family at one time.” Even though the man was drunk, dirty, or smelly, the sister treated him with compassion, dignity and respect. Once at the monastery, the man took a shower, had a nap, and ate a nice meal. The next day, the man was unrecognizable; his hair was cut and beard shaved; and he wore new clothes. Mother Teresa’s kindness touched him and restored his dignity. The encounter between a homeless person and Mother Teresa greatly mirrored the encounter between the man with leprosy and Jesus in today’s Gospel.
Leprosy or as known now as Hansen’s Disease was once feared as a highly contagious and debilitating disease. If left untreated, the nerve damage from leprosy bacteria can result in crippling and disfigurement of hands and feet, paralysis, and blindness. This disease has been affecting humanity since 2000 BC. So from the time of Jesus up until 50 years ago, people suffering from the skin disease of leprosy were treated as outcasts. They were banished from their community and family. We still have around 200,000 new cases worldwide. Many of us may be familiar with Carville, where the National Hansen’s Disease Center was located. From the time of Moses until Jesus, those with leprosy had to warn those approaching them by crying out, “Unclean, unclean!” They not only had to bear the physical pain of their diseases, they also had to bear the mental anguish of being completely ostracized from human society. In a sense, lepers were people who were already treated as dead, but still alive. With this in mind, we can imagine how desperate the man with leprosy was when he approached Jesus to be made clean. How this man must have suffered from years of isolation and loneliness!
Do we recognize some part of ourselves in this leper who approached Jesus for healing? We may not have a physical illness but sometimes we may be distressed by a bad conscience, by desires that betray our fidelity to our duties as a single person, a spouse, or a parent, or by our sins. Sometimes we are so self-absorbed that we fail to recognize how our spiritual sickness is affecting our loved ones. We can be spiritually sick as a community as well. Are there any persons that our community treats as modern day “lepers”? Are there some whom we don’t welcome or treat as nonexistent in our neighborhood, office, and family? When we are not faithful being Christlike, we come to Jesus in humility admitting that we are sinners in need of healing. We are one Body of Christ, and we have disfigured His Body through our spiritual blindness, neglect, and lack of charity. With the humility of the leper, we approach Jesus begging, “If you will, you can make me clean.”
In the Eucharist and in the Sacrament of Reconciliation Jesus meets our human need with understanding and compassion. In these sacraments, Jesus stretches out his hand, not repulsed by our sins which are filthy, repulsive, and infectious, and touches us and restores our dignity as sons and daughters of God. He loves us, and his love overcomes all our failings.
The good news is that even when we have shortcomings, there is a way back to right-relationship with the Father. One of the opportunities is the season of Lent that gives us time to reflect on our relationship with God and others. Through humility, prayer, and self-denial, we discover once again the joy of dying to self and rising with Christ.
