Leper and Nation Restored

The Roman Catholic Lectionary features texts which are linked by rejection and the hope of restoration. The 2nd Book of Kings tells of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon killing the leaders of Judah after an escape from the siege of Jerusalem went badly. Matthew tells of the encounter of Jesus with a Leper who seeks restoration from his disease. He testifies that he believes that Jesus can help him. The deportation to Babylon, which the psalmist laments, has often been cited as an event which could have been avoided had the people of God depended more on being true to the Covenant than to living in the politics and intrigue of the human world. Restoration and renewal is the action of the Divine within those who open their being to the indwelling Spirit. It is the action for the leper and for the people of the Covenant.