We encounter the compassion of Christ in our brokenness.
This Sunday’s Gospel reading from Mark shows us Jesus moved with pity (the
Greek term is splanchnizomai (σπλαγχνίζομαι)), suffering deeply with his fellow man, so much
so that Jesus risks his own connection with the community simply by stretching out his hand in order to heal
a man afflicted with leprosy. In so doing, Jesus restores the leper’s connection with the
world through healing restoration of body and soul: Make me
clean, the man asks, and Jesus responds, I will do it. Be made clean. In the past, as in our story from Leviticus,
lepers were clearly instructed to warn the community of their presence, crying
out, Unclean! Unclean! But Jesus, the Good News himself, brings those
who have been cast out back into community, moving them past the pain of
ostracism, past the barriers and burdens, to the extraordinary restoration of
connection in all its forms. Blessed is he whose fault is taken away, Psalm 32 tells us, for he will be filled with
the joy of salvation.
To encounter the compassion of Christ is to experience more
than physical healing; it is to go deep within to heal our brokenness, so that
we might see beyond the pain and be transformed, so that we might leave the
hurt behind and spread the report abroad,
as the former leper does, sharing the Good News of Christ with the world, open
to all, that they may be saved. St. Paul reminds the Corinthians that we must
work at being community for the glory of
God, allowing Christ to be present as we are gift to one another, in every way. That presence is felt in our own compassion
for others, as we become Christ for one another, working to heal the brokenness
among us, that all might be the one Body of Christ, restored to community,
restored to connection.
This post is based on Fr. Pat's Scripture class.
Image source: Wordle
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