Our first reading from Leviticus today seems really harsh, doesn’t it, as it describes how a person identified with leprosy is treated. The judgement is harsh for a person with a scab or sore on his skin, whether it is truly leprosy or not: he must tern his clothing and mess up his hair and shout out “unclean, unclean,” to announce to all that they should not come near. That person must live outside on the outskirts of society. In most cases, that certainly would be a death sentence.
In our readings about lepers and leprosy today, we can start by thinking about how lepers were some of the most feared people in the ancient world. Leprosy was very contagious; thus, it was greatly feared. In most ancient societies, the solution was to isolate the leper and to not allow him to approach others. This disease was very painful and debilitating, with the physical disintegration of the body and its limbs. But the ostracism and contempt that the leper endured from other members of society was probably more painful than the physical affects of the diocese.
I associate leprosy with biblical times and the ancient world, not the modern world of today. We also probably associate leprosy with Father Damien of Molokai, a member of our community of saints. Father Damien died of leprosy in 1889 after have served as the priest to the residents of the leper colony on the island of Molokai in Hawaii for 16 years. However, recently I read an article that stated that although the number of individuals with leprosy in the world has decreased greatly in recent years, there are more than 200,000 new cases of leprosy each year throughout the world, with about half of those cases in India. However, when caught early, leprosy can be treated and cured.
In our Gospel today, a leper, full of desperation, gets down on his knees before Jesus and asks him in an act of great faith: “If you want to, you can cure me.” Already, in this same Gospel passage from the first chapter of Mark, we have seen Jesus heal Simon’s mother-in-law, the man possessed by an unclean spirit, and many others who approached him for healing. His faith is sufficient in order for him to be healed and be made whole.
Putting today’s Gospel in perspective, there are people who are ostracized in our communities today because of how they are different. It could be because of race, color, language, religion or economic status. It could be because of politics or ideology as well. Just as Jesus brought the leper to healing and wholeness, how do we as Catholics validate those who are ostracized, healing them from these stigmas and restoring them to the community?
I was thinking about our social justice outreach here at St Jude. We do a lot of different things. Since the pandemic started last March, our ministries to the residents at the Whitfield state hospital and at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility have been on hold. However, we continue our outreach in our emergency food bank to HIV/AID patients and the meals we provide to the hungry and the homeless at the Opportunity Center and through the WHY NOT NOW program in inner city Jackson. We have participated in the 40 days for life and have helped the ladies in the BORN FREE program of Catholic Charities who are trying to overcome addiction and to give birth to their babies. I think most of you know that Catholic Social Teaching and social justice issues have driven a lot of things that I have done in my life as a lay person and as a priest, through my work as a lay missionary and Peace Corps volunteers and as a teacher in the Mississippi Delta. In the midst of all I have to occupy my time here at St Jude and as Vicar General of the Diocese, I make time to go to the rural parishes of Paulding and Newton to celebrate Mass because there are not priests assigned to those parishes. All of this I see as social justice work we do at St Jude, some on which may be below the radar of many parishioners here.
To do this social justice work and to work toward things like racial justice, access to adequate health care, and combating things like homelessness, poverty, and hunger, we must strive for a conversion of heart and living out the values of the Gospel in our daily lives. In conjunction with our parish staff at St Jude, one of the things we are proposing is a social justice committee at our parish to talk about those social justice issues we want to engage in through ministry, action, prayer, and education. If you are interested in this committee, I would like us to work together in this area of social justice and Catholic Social Teaching, to focus on those things that we want to address as a faith community.
I am very much inspired by today’s Gospel of the healing of the leper. May this Gospel message truly touch our hearts today.
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