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As we hear this today in the
reading from Leviticus, there were very strict regulations regarding
lepers and a person's contact with them. These regulations were as much
socially necessary as they were religious. Leprosy in the ancient world
was a devastating condition. Due to the climate and poor sanitation, it
was extremely contagious. Those who contracted the disease were doomed
to a slow and painful death. They were made to dwell in isolated places
and were reduced to begging and the charity of others in order to
survive. Their only companions were their fellow lepers.
What is most remarkable about today's gospel story is the way in which
Jesus cured the leper. He stretched out his hand and touched him. Jesus
often touched the sick in order to restore them to health, but to touch
a leper was to become ritually impure. Jesus' simple, healing touch was
something very radical indeed. Perhaps this passage offers us an
opportunity to examine the way we think about and react to the reality
of disease in our culture. How do you or other people you know handle
illness? Some people just dread being around anyone who is sick. It
makes no difference if the disease is cancer or tuberculosis. Some of us
have a very hard time relating to disease and its attendant suffering.
If we are not afraid of contagion, then of what are we afraid? Do we
think that being around sick people will make us sick? Does the presence
of illness destroy the denial of our own mortality?
The Church has always recognized that it had a commission from Jesus to
comfort and heal the sick. In recent memory Mother Theresa of Calcutta
was a beautiful example of this ministry. She and her sisters
carried the sick and the dying from the streets and ministered to them
until they recovered or returned to God. Each of us must eventually come
to terms with sickness, suffering and death. They cannot be put off by
denial. Our Blessed Lord can empower us to overcome fear and embrace the
suffering with his healing love.
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