12/02/2006 - 6th SUNDAY OF ORDINARY
TIME - Year B
First Reading Leviticus 13:1-2; 45-46 Psalm 31/32
Second Reading 1Corinthians 10:31-11; 1 Gospel Mark 1:40-45
Often, I ask myself how a Christian can observe the First Commandment. I know
that God is my God, my Father, the spring of my life and my joy, the One who
wants to free me from all ills and let me live in communion with Him and with
other men. I try to remember that, and organize each day and each action, in
light of this knowledge. I keep my contact with Him alive by praying. My first
prayer is one of thanksgiving. I will say "thanks" because He continues
to let me know His love and His wishes, through Jesus. After thanksgiving, I
will give praise and admiration to all His works, even for the flowers and the
mountains; but, above all, for having saved me from sin. I continue to ask forgiveness
with all my heart because I, too, make room for the sin of the world every day,
and because, by sinning, I damaged God's creation and God's image for my brothers.
I ask His intervention in any given moment: without His Spirit, nothing is truly
good; without His strength, nothing is fruit of true communion; without His
light, nothing is meaningful! I faithfully ask His intervention in time of difficulty,
always knowing that He knows better than I how I can better serve those I love,
because He is the Father who loves us. I trust in Him and I want to imitate
Him. I want to have, in me, the same qualities of mercy and faith, of kindness
and gratuitousness! I want to see Him, but above all, hear Him. And that is
why I seek the "Word" which His beloved Son, Jesus gave to men! I
want all of this to be the basis of my every thought, and make it transparent
in all my conversations. I know that five minutes each morning, and ten minutes
every night, are not enough to nurture this rapport of a son with his Father
but I do not wish to deprive myself of, at least, this much. I know that, if
I fail to pray in the morning and at night, in a short while, the superficial
thoughts and wishes of the world, which surround me, will influence me greatly.
It is only when I take the time to listen and meditate, and to thank and praise
the Father that my freedom and peace grow.
Yesterday, we celebrated the "World Day of the Sick" and today we
move towards the Word of God, which lets us distinguish the path necessary so
that man can see and do the will of the Father. The sick man, who believes he
is a leper, must have the authority to stay away from the community of other
men. By being deprived of one's health, that person is also deprived of its
effects. This is Moses' commandment, and it is a step ahead of the behaviour
of other people. Moses tries to keep others from being contaminated, and this
is only possible by marginalizing the one who is suffering. This is the behaviour
of the world, of that world which knows no other way of facing what is uncomfortable,
fearful and painful. The world which did not have, or does not stop to consider,
the revelation of the love of God, has no motivation, nor is it capable, of
standing by those who are sick. In many ways they marginalize them or remove
them, even to the point of imposing the need for, what is said to be a sweet
death - euthanasia.
But here is Jesus, who is moved in compassion before the disobedient leper.
In following the law, he should go away; but, instead, he comes closer, certain
that Jesus would not refuse him! His assuredness is a great act of faith, faith
in the goodness and power of the Word of the Lord! In fact, the Word of Jesus
heals the leprosy, dissolves the marginalizing of the leper, removes him from
his isolation and frees him from the fear of being damned by God! But the word
of the healing cost Jesus. Jesus, Himself was marginalized by men. Yet, Jesus
does not complain, He faces the cross, His Cross, in order to save us from our
reciprocal marginalization. This may be due to illness, but may also be from
selfish contact, by our sin; by our disobedience of the Word of the Father!
What does Jesus do? He does not look at the illness, but the one who is sick.
He does not look at what makes man repulsive; He looks at the man and sees the
face of God in him. In looking at the man, Jesus sees the Father's design, who
wants the communion of men; among all men. For Jesus, the illness is an invitation
to be more attentive to him who needs to be loved, so that he, too, can come
to know the Father. Jesus extends His hand and touches him, establishes contact,
so that the love of the Father can reach the body and the soul of the leper,
who is in need and feels alienated from God, and is kept away from men!
Today, does this, still. He gives the Church the task of "touching"
our sick body with His gestures, with His hand, with His healing Word. It is
the Holy Sacrament which, provided we wish it, will reach us in any situation
and show us the love of the Father! With these signs, the Church offers salvation
to all, so that we can be glory to God, at any moment, and we can continue to
clothe the world with His love! The Apostles imitated Jesus, and we learn from
them, as we continue the chain of the signs which give, to mankind, the tenderness
of the Father!