The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to meditate on the action of God through the Spirit in people in our lives to restore our well being.
Restoration in progress
The reading from the Book of Leviticus establishes regulations to deal with leprosy.
* [13:45–46] The symbolic association with death is found in the mourning activities in which those diagnosed with these afflictions engage: rending clothes, disheveling the hair, and covering the mouth. They are also excluded from the camp. Cf. examples of exclusion in Nm 5:1–4; 12:14–15; 2 Kgs 7:3–10; 15:5; 2 Chr 26:21. Persons with scaly infections must have been able to pollute others in the priestly system, though this is not stated. Hence, they must cry out “Unclean, unclean!” to warn others of their presence.1
Psalm 32 declares the joy of Forgiveness.
* [Psalm 32] An individual thanksgiving and the second of the seven Penitential Psalms (cf. Ps 6). The opening declaration—the forgiven are blessed (Ps 32:1–2)—arises from the psalmist’s own experience. At one time the psalmist was stubborn and closed, a victim of sin’s power (Ps 32:3–4), and then became open to the forgiving God (Ps 32:5–7). Sin here, as often in the Bible, is not only the personal act of rebellion against God but also the consequences of that act—frustration and waning of vitality. Having been rescued, the psalmist can teach others the joys of justice and the folly of sin (Ps 32:8–11).2
In the reading from the First Letter to the Corinthians, Paul urges the community to be imitators of Christ.
* [10:32–11:1] In summary, the general rule of mutually responsible use of their Christian freedom is enjoined first negatively (1 Cor 10:32), then positively, as exemplified in Paul (1 Cor 10:33), and finally grounded in Christ, the pattern for Paul’s behavior and theirs (1 Cor 11:1; cf. Rom 15:1–3).3
In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus cleanses a Leper.
* [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 5:14.4
George Butterfield thinks of his good friend, Doctor Ed Thornton, who was an ER doctor for many years. He answered the call to help with Covid19 patients only to eventually contract the illness and succumb to it a week later.
I think of Ed because he was a man without guile. In hearing of his death, I thought, could I possibly find anyone who would have something bad to say about him? I concluded that I could not. He could tell you his political or religious views and you might be one hundred percent opposed to them but you still couldn’t bring yourself to dislike Ed. He just had a way about him that made people feel loved and appreciated. During this pandemic when many people are feeling isolated and alone, think of those heroes who answered the call for you and your family. Think of those Doctor Eds in your life. May the spirit of Jesus who loved the sick, and the spirit of Doctor Ed who could so beautifully minister to the sick, fill us and grant us the Lord’s peace. Amen.5
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)6
The Word Among Us Meditation on Mark 1:40-45 comments that maybe we find that we are in a difficult relationship, one filled with tension and stress. Jesus could heal that relationship by showing us how to love that person better. Or if we are harboring unforgiveness and resentment, we may need God’s grace to help us forgive. We might be stuck in a sin pattern that you don’t want to face, and so we avoid bringing it into the light and receiving God’s mercy in Confession.
It’s tempting to think that we can handle such situations on our own. Or we might not even recognize that these are things that Jesus can heal. But what Jesus said to the man in this story, he says to us: “I do will it. Be made clean” (Mark 1:41). He wants to heal us of anything that doesn’t reflect his will for our lives. Today, ask the Holy Spirit to help you become aware of just one area of your life in which you need his healing touch. How might unhealed wounds be holding you back or causing pain to yourself or someone around you? How might they be leading you away from God and into sin?7
Friar Jude Winkler discusses the precautions set by Aaron and Moses against leprosy, though it may not have been the disease we know as Hansen's disease. Consuming meat offered to idols was an issue for the community in Corinth. Friar Jude suggests we might follow the example of Paul to know the peace he found.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, presents authors of color, people who, like Jesus, see God in everything. Howard Thurman (1900–1981), the Black mystic, theologian, and spiritual guide for Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement, shares his early experiences of God.
The true purpose of all spiritual disciplines is to clear away whatever may block our awareness of that which is God in us. It will be in order to suggest certain simple aids to this end. One of these is the practice of silence, or quiet. As a child I was accustomed to spend many hours alone in my rowboat, fishing along the river, when there was no sound save the lapping of the waves against the boat. There were times when it seemed as if the earth and the river and the sky and I were one beat of the same pulse. It was a time of watching and waiting for what I did not know—yet I always knew. There would come a moment when beyond the single pulse beat there was a sense of Presence which seemed always to speak to me. My response to the sense of Presence always had the quality of personal communion. There was no voice. There was no image. There was no vision. There was God. [1]8
Our restoration from the challenges in life may begin in our connection with the Presence of God in the people and places we encounter.
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