We hear of the healing of the leper in today’s Gospel reading from Luke this morning. I read a book several years ago that spoke about lepers in different ways that has stuck with me The book, entitled In the Sanctuary of the Outcasts, was written by Neil White, a man who originally from the Mississippi Gulf Coast and who lived in Oxford, Mississippi for a long time. He also spent some time in Carville, Louisiana, the last functioning leper colony on the mainland of the United States. White felt as much as an outcast as the lepers did during his time there, since he was spending his time in Carville incarcerated as a federal prisoner after living a very lavish lifestyle as a businessman and after having robbed a lot of people of the money they invested with him. White came to that federal prison very arrogant and very full of himself, which he freely admits in his book. Yet, he also admits that learned a lot about life, about himself, and about God through his interaction with the lepers who lived there.
When we hear the word “leper” in our modern world, we immediately think of an outcast, of someone who is feared and condemned by the rest of society. The name “leper” certainly has a stigma connected to it. Lepers were greatly feared in the ancient world due to the very contagious and debilitating disease that they had. Yet, Jesus allows the leper to approach him, and he makes the leper clean due to the great faith and confidence the leper has in Jesus.
We may want healing and miracles in our own lives, but perhaps God is enacting healing and miracles in our lives in ways that are different from our expectations. We may come to God arrogantly and full of ourselves just as Neil White did when he entered that leper colony in Louisiana. However, may we approach the Lord with the humility and confidence of the leper that we hear about today. May we always have faith in our Lord.
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