Homily for the 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B. Leviticus 13:1-2, 44-46; Mark 1:40-45.
AIM: To bring home to the hearers the healing power
of God’s unconditioned love.
Have you ever been shunned by someone
you love? It happens between friends, between lovers, between husbands and
wives. They quarrel, and afterwards avoid each other’s company, or refuse to
speak when they must be together. Many of us have been through experiences like
that. It hurts terribly.
The leper who comes to Jesus in
today’s gospel was shunned by everyone except his fellow lepers. Leprosy was
the dread scourge of the ancient world, something like AIDS today. Because
leprosy was thought to be highly contagious, the leper had to live apart, in a kind
of permanent quarantine. And since there was no cure for his illness, his
situation was hopeless.
The leper in today’s gospel, however,
has heard about a man named Jesus who can cure people, even those with
incurable diseases like leprosy. With a hope born of despair this man dares to
violate the law for lepers which we heard about in our first reading: “He shall
dwell apart, making his home outside the camp.”
The leper throws himself at Jesus’ feet and begs for healing: “If you
wish, you can make me clean.”
Notice how Jesus reacts. He does not
show revulsion. He is not afraid he will be infected. Jesus, Mark tells us, is
“moved with pity.” Though everyone else shuns the man, Jesus does not. Though
the man’s situation is hopeless, for Jesus it is not. Though everyone else
flees from the man in horror, Jesus does not. Instead Jesus does the
unthinkable. He reaches out to touch
the man. At Jesus’ command the man is cured. In a single moment his life is
changed. He is restored to his friends and to society. He can lead a normal
life again.
This simple story, set in a world so
different from ours, has good news for us. It tells us that Jesus is the friend
of the outcast, that he rejects no one who comes to him. Now, as then, Jesus’
touch gives hope where previously there was no hope; restores people to
fellowship with one another, and with God.
When we were little, our parents (if
they were reasonably good parents) punished us when we were bad and rewarded us
when we were good. We grew up expecting God to do the same. So if we want God
to reward and bless us, we assume, we must first do something to deserve his
blessing. Yet if we are honest, we must admit that much of the time we are not
deserving. Repeatedly we have forfeited any claim we might have on God for his
blessing and reward. The logical conclusion is that our situation is hopeless –
as hopeless as the leper’s situation before he encountered Jesus Christ.
The good news of the gospel is that
our situation is not hopeless. God
loves us as we are, right now. He does not love us because we are good enough,
for much of the time we are not. God loves us because He is so good that he wants to share his love and his goodness with
us.
For this good news to bear fruit in
our lives, however, we must do what the man in today’s gospel did. We must
recognize the hopelessness of our situation and come to Jesus for healing. The
leper needed no reminder of his hopelessness.
The society which segregated and shunned him reminded him of it at every
moment.
Many people, however, have difficulty
recognizing the things in their lives that cry out for Jesus’ healing touch,
for forgiveness. They have worn masks for so long that they can no longer see
the real self behind the mask. If you are completely satisfied with your life
as it is – with your character, your attitude, your achievements – then the
good news of the gospel is not for you. Jesus cannot reach you with his healing
power.
If, on the other hand, you are willing
to come to Jesus Christ, as the leper did; if you will tell him how desperately
you need him – then you too can experience his healing, and his forgiveness.
You have only to come. Jesus is waiting for you.
As a sign that the leper, having been
healed, was restored to the fellowship of God’s holy people and could join in
their worship, Jesus sends him to the priest. Jewish priests in the Jerusalem
Temple
The message of today’s gospel is
simple. It is this. Jesus Christ gives hope where there is no hope. Jesus
Christ cures the incurable and forgives the unforgivable. Jesus Christ welcomes
outcasts and restores them to fellowship with God, and with God’s holy people.
Jesus Christ changes lives.
Jesus Christ can change your life. You have only to admit your
need – and come.
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