Homily – VI Sun. in Ordinary Time(B) ’12 Father Joseph
I do will it. Be made clean. The leprosy left him immediately. Where did the leprosy go? And since leprosy in the Scriptures is supposed to be an image of sin we might well ask a much more important question, “Where does sin go?” When Jesus forgives sin what happens to it – does it just evaporate?
Leprosy does to an individual physically what sin does spiritually. Leprosy makes one unclean, it makes one ugly, it has the potential of cutting one off from the community and, finally, it kills one. Likewise, sin makes the sinner unclean, ugly, cut off from the community and spiritually dead.
From the Pentatuch, the Book of Leviticus (13:38-39) has this to say: A man infected with leprosy must wear his clothing torn and his hair disordered; he must shield his upper lip and cry, “Unclean, unclean”. As long as the disease lasts he must be unclean; and therefore he must live apart: he must live outside the camp.
The only way a leper could remain alive was to beg people to throw him money or leave him food. If anyone was foolish enough to touch a leper they would contaminate themselves and would be excluded from the community for a certain number of days, after which the priest would examine him and, hopefully, declare him to be clean. So, the leper in the Gospel was way out of line in approaching Jesus; he should not have come anywhere near him because he was, in fact, ‘excommunicated’. That he dared to come within arm’s reach was the height of insolence. If you wish … you can make me clean.
The leper had come to Jesus and fallen to his knees. Now he was pleading to be healed. His words are almost suggestive of a challenge to the compassion of Jesus, but…confident of his goodness and power to heal. Neither disease/illness nor sin is part of God’s plan for humanity-I hope you heard me say that- and Jesus immediately felt compassion for this man. He had come to restore, to heal, to make whole and without hesitation he does the unthinkable… he: stretched out his hand and touched him.
Jesus sternly orders the man not to speak of Jesus’ part in this healing but to go and show himself to the priests who would examine him and declare him clean. (Is this not what a priest does in the Sacrament of Reconciliation?) It also points to fulfilling what Jesus proclaims in Matthew’s Gospel: Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.(Mt 5:17)
Instead the man speaks of his healing freely and spreads the story everywhere. At any rate, the consequences for Jesus are serious; he is now known to be ritually unclean because he had touched the leper and Mark tells us: …it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly…he remained outside in deserted places, and people kept coming to him from everywhere. So, we “see the stage set,” so-to-speak for Jesus growing acceptance by the “common folk” and his rejection by the Jewish spiritual leaders…a rejection that, of course, would lead to his suffering, death and the ultimate healing of sin and death…his resurrection!
So…WHO IS THE LEPER NOW? Who is the one that we fear will make us “unclean? Who is the one who offends our sensibility(whatever that is supp to mean)? Who is the one whom we would rather see excluded…shamed…unfit? Who, in light of our own pride and arrogance, do we label as “unclean,” sinful? This is only part of an examination of conscience to which the Holy Gospel calls us. In our “heart of hearts,” we know that true healing is found in the Sacrament of Reconciliation(and when needed, the Sacrament of Anointing). It isn’t found in a self-help book, in horoscopes, in objects, in a repeated series of prayers that someone invented, in our own deluded sense of righteousness…true healing is found in the Sacraments of Holy Mother Church!
Jesus is waiting for you…for me…to fall to our knees and beg him, If you wish, you can make me clean. May our humble faith and his saving grace make this plea a reality!
