Do we invite Jesus’
healing presence into our lives?
Mosaic law was
quite strict in its attention to what it described as lepers. In the Book of Leviticus, the Lord tells
Moses and Aaron that those who manifest a sore
of leprosy are required to exile themselves from their community. Visual signs – rent garments, a bare head, a muffled beard – tell people to stay
away from the individual in question, who is to cry out, Unclean! Unclean! But the leper, and by extension anyone exiled
from the community due to illness, sin or other causes, is not necessarily
permanently ostracized. Psalm 32 details
the way restoration of the sinful one to community can take place: Blessed
is he whose fault is taken away, the psalmist sings, that he might be restored
to union, to right relationship with God, by God’s action in his life.
In Mark’s Gospel,
Jesus likewise reaches beyond human barriers to restore those who are exiled
from their community. Moved with pity, Jesus reaches out and
touches the leper who asks to be made
clean. The man is now restored to
community; he has become part of the whole again. God’s action – Jesus’ healing – thus transcends
Mosaic law, opening the way for grace to enter this man’s life. It is this transformative restoration that we
are to strive for every time we too experience distance from the
community: we must invite Jesus’ healing
presence into our lives. And, as part of
that community, we must imitate Christ
and do everything for the glory of God, as
Paul tells the Corinthians, with particular attention to the benefit of the many, that no one may ever be exiled, ostracized or rejected, only
included, in the broad and diverse embrace of God’s love.
This post is based
on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordle.net
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