The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite contemplation of the contrast between the action of the Israelites to marshal God for their war and Jesus desire to be quiet and refuse noteriatity after He heals the leper.
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| Communities in harmony with God |
The passage from the First Book of Samuel describes the defeat of the Israelites and the capture of the Ark of God.
* [4:1–7:1] The Ark Narrative: A striking indication that this is an independent narrative is the absence of any mention of Samuel. The Philistines: one of the Sea Peoples, of Aegean origin, who occupied the coastal plain of Palestine and threatened the Israelites who settled the inland hills.1
Psalm 44 declares God has abandoned Israel to defeat and humiliation.
* [Psalm 44] In this lament the community reminds God of past favors which it has always acknowledged (Ps 44:2–9). But now God has abandoned Israel to defeat and humiliation (Ps 44:10–17), though the people are not conscious of any sin against the covenant (Ps 44:18–23). They struggle with being God’s special people amid divine silence; yet they continue to pray (Ps 44:24–26).2
Jesus Cleanses a Leper in the Gospel of Mark.
* [1:40] A leper: for the various forms of skin disease, see Lv 13:1–50 and the note on Lv 13:2–4. There are only two instances in the Old Testament in which God is shown to have cured a leper (Nm 12:10–15; 2 Kgs 5:1–14). The law of Moses provided for the ritual purification of a leper. In curing the leper, Jesus assumes that the priests will reinstate the cured man into the religious community. See also note on Lk 5:14.3
Luis Rodriguez, S.J. comments the clause “If you wish,” could also be interpreted by some as questioning Jesus’ compassion: do you care to heal me? But Jesus’ encouraging response recommends rather a positive interpretation of respect for Jesus’ mission: if it fits in your mission, if this is your will.
Being made whole means that we have no excuse to expect others to meet our needs. Hence the importance of Jesus’ question to the paralytic (John 5): are you willing to stand on your own two feet, both physically and socially? We need to question – and also to allow God to question – our desire for wholeness. Do I really want to be healed? The leper did.4
Don Schwager quotes “Why did Jesus touch the leper,” by Origen of Alexandria (185-254 AD).
"And why did [Jesus] touch him, since the law forbade the touching of a leper? He touched him to show that 'all things are clean to the clean' (Titus 1:15). Because the filth that is in one person does not adhere to others, nor does external uncleanness defile the clean of heart. So he touches him in his untouchability, that he might instruct us in humility; that he might teach us that we should despise no one, or abhor them, or regard them as pitiable, because of some wound of their body or some blemish for which they might be called to render an account... So, stretching forth his hand to touch, the leprosy immediately departs. The hand of the Lord is found to have touched not a leper, but a body made clean! Let us consider here, beloved, if there be anyone here that has the taint of leprosy in his soul, or the contamination of guilt in his heart? If he has, instantly adoring God, let him say: 'Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.'" (excerpt from FRAGMENTS ON MATTHEW 2.2–3)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on Mark 1:40-45 shares that the touch from Jesus did more than overcome the man’s horrible disease. It overcame his isolation as well. By reaching out to him physically, Jesus drew him back into fellowship and belonging. He reconciled this man to everyone around him.
So reach out and touch someone today. Don’t rely only on your words. And don’t leave everything to God, thinking that he will sweep in and magically transform that person’s life. Jesus is relying on you to minister his touch. He is relying on you to show people that their heavenly Father loves them, treasures them, and welcomes them into his kingdom.6
Friar Jude Winkler explains the technological advantage the Philistines had over the Israelites. God does not make it all better, but He makes the difference. Friar Jude notes that the public sharing of His healing, makes Jesus more careful in His travels.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments that Jesus chose a very simple lifestyle which kept him from being constantly co-opted by the structures, Here are a few examples which we can call the sin system. (Note that the word “sin” is often used to describe individual wrongdoing, but Fr. Richard is using it in a much more corporate way, as Jesus and Paul did).
The city of Sepphoris was the Roman regional capital of Galilee and the center for most money, jobs, and power in the region where Jesus lived. It was just nine miles from Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth. Yet there is no record that Jesus ever went there, nor is it mentioned once in the New Testament, even though he and his father, Joseph, were carpenters or “workmen” and Jesus traveled through many other cities much farther away. He also seems to have avoided the money system as much as possible by using “a common purse” (John 12:6, 13:29)—voluntary “communism,” we might say. Go ahead and hate me!
Jesus healed the poor woman whose doctors made her spend all she had “while she only grew worse” (Mark 5:26). His three-year ministry was, in effect, offering free healing and healthcare for any who wanted it (Jew and non-Jew, worthy and unworthy). He consistently treated women with a dignity and equality that was almost unknown in a patriarchal culture. He never married, which could be interpreted as a critique of the idealized family consisting of father, mother, and children (which became the justification for both Catholic priests’ celibacy and the vocation of single life). He clearly respected eunuchs, which would have been the generic term for nonbinary or trans- genders (see Matthew 19:12), probably inspired by the universalism of Isaiah 56:4-5. Then, at the end of his life, he surrendered to the punitive systems of both empire and religion by letting them judge, torture, and murder him. Jesus was finally a full victim of the systems that he refused to worship. Is this not a much more coherent explanation of why Jesus died?7
When our actions are in harmony with the Will of God, we are able to connect setbacks and difficulties to participation in renewal and transformation of communities in God’s time and Wisdom.
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