The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to reflect on the need we have for healing of loss and separation in our relationships with others.
Healing connection
The reading from the First Book of Samuel describes a battle in which the Ark of God is captured.
* [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 is a national lament and prayer for help.
* [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
In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus cleanses a leper.
* [1:21–45] The account of a single day’s ministry of Jesus on a sabbath in and outside the synagogue of Capernaum (Mk 1:21–31) combines teaching and miracles of exorcism and healing. Mention is not made of the content of the teaching but of the effect of astonishment and alarm on the people. Jesus’ teaching with authority, making an absolute claim on the hearer, was in the best tradition of the ancient prophets, not of the scribes. The narrative continues with events that evening (Mk 1:32–34; see notes on Mt 8:14–17) and the next day (Mk 1:35–39). The cleansing in Mk 1:40–45 stands as an isolated story.3
Rev. Richard Gabuzda comments that in that culture, to touch a leper rendered a person unclean, i.e., unfit to be in company with others, and thus in a quarantine of sorts. Jesus’ desire to show mercy to the leper ignores that prescription and boldly provides the healing touch that is so needed by this isolated individual.
The boldness of Jesus in healing this “untouchable” invites a boldness on our part, a boldness that trusts unfailingly in Jesus’ healing mercy. We are invited to confidently beg Jesus to touch the untouchable parts of our lives and world, the places where we are isolated by shame, fear, the burdens of our lives and of those for whom we care. Jesus stands ready to heal with the touch of his loving mercy. Let’s not allow anything to prevent us from offering to him the places where we need him most.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 comments that we don’t suffer from leprosy, but we are all in need of Jesus’ healing touch. We might be suffering from physical sickness, but we might also be struggling with a spiritual or emotional problem like fear, anxiety, a sinful habit, or trauma from the past. And we long for what the man with leprosy received: healing, acceptance, and God’s unconditional love and mercy.
So tell Jesus about your pain—be it physical, emotional, or spiritual. Ask him questions and share your thoughts and feelings with him. This is how you “kneel down” with humble faith. Then ask him to heal you. Keep acknowledging your need and keep asking in faith. Your troubles may not dissolve instantly, but Jesus will pour his love into every area of your heart that is hurting. His love is the core healing we all need and desire, and this love will heal you, perhaps in ways you can’t even imagine. “I kneel before you today, Lord. Come and heal me!”6
Friar Jude Winkler compares the iron weapons of the seacoast Philistines to the bronze weapons of the Israelites. The disaster of the Israelites sets the stage for God to intervene in a powerful way through Samuel. Friar Jude reminds us of Jesus' instructions to return the leper to the community.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces professor Heidi Russell who describes a way of speaking about the Trinity as Love that might allow modern Christians to connect more intimately to God. The use of concepts such as being and person in our trinitarian theology have too often led to an understanding of God as a being or a person, or worse as three beings or three persons. Shifting from language of being and person to a concept of God as Love can help counteract this tendency to make God in our own image.
To affirm God as Trinitarian Love means that our relationships with each other have the potential to mirror such divine, three-fold love. Russell quotes Pope Francis: The human person grows more, matures more and is sanctified more to the extent that he or she enters into relationships, going out from themselves to live in communion with God, with others and with all creatures. In this way, they make their own that trinitarian dynamism which God imprinted in them when they were created. Everything is interconnected, and this invites us to develop a spirituality of that global solidarity which flows from the mystery of the Trinity. [1] She continues: We can choose to exercise the unfolding of love in our lives. I can meditate on a God who is Love, who has enfolded Godself as Love at the core of who I am and empowered me to participate in the unfolding of that Love in the world. Through that meditative prayer, we will come to better enact Love in the world. Our hearts can literally change our brains. Our altered brains will change our actions. That unfolding of love means I am empowered to live out my life in relationships that are loving, that engender mutuality and equality in the world. 7
We contemplate the desire of God to bring healing to people as we invoke the Spirit to guide us in Jesus' Way.
References
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