The Cleansing of a Leper

Today's Reflections

 

The Cleansing of a Leper

Mk 1:40-45

⁴⁰A leper came to [Jesus] [and kneeling down] begged him and said, “If you wish, you can make me clean.” ⁴¹Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched him, and said to him, “I do will it. Be made clean.” ⁴²The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean. ⁴³Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once.

⁴⁴Then he said to him, “See that you tell no one anything, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them.”

⁴⁵The man went away and began to publicize the whole matter. He spread the report abroad so that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly. He remained outside in deserted places, and people kept coming to him from everywhere.

Reflection:
 

Be made clean. The Jews consider leprosy as a curse from God, a punishment for serious sins. Lepers are numbered among the living dead. They are social outcasts, an embarrassment to their families and to the community.

The Book of Leviticus prescribes that one who bears the sore of leprosy shall keep his garments rent and his head bare, and shall muffle his beard; he shall cry out, “Unclean, unclean!” He shall dwell apart, making his abode outside the camp (Lv 13:45-46). Lepers are forbidden to enter the city or the Temple. No one is to speak or mingle with them. Anyone who touches a leper is considered unclean and impure, prohibited from participating in any Temple sacrifice and worship.

Jesus does exactly the opposite: he interacts with a leper. He stretches out his hand, touches the leper, and speaks with him. His actions show his compassion and love for the leper. Jesus heals the leper so he may be reinstated into the community and restored in his dignity as a child of God.

What Jesus sees in us are not our mistakes, failures, or sins but our contrition and desire to be healed and made whole. Jesus wants that our hearts be cleansed from bitterness, our eyes from malice, our minds from revenge, our lips from lies, our hands from hurting, and our lives from selfishness and slavery to sin. Jesus is telling us now, “I do will it. Be made clean.”

Sympathy is not enough;compassion is expressed in good deeds.