Six Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2/14

Dear friends!

Today’s Gospel (Mk 1:40-45) shows us Jesus in touch with a form of disease then considered the most serious, so as to make the person infected with it “unclean” and excluded from social relations: we are speaking of leprosy. The special legislation (found in the book of Leviticus 13-14) allocated to the priests the task of declaring someone “unclean” and therefore an outcast, but readmitted and therefore restored to normal life. This is the literal or historical context.

Going beyond the literal meaning, what can take as the Moral message of this passage? How can it enrich your behaviour? Maybe you would immediately think of the leprosy of sin in it’s different expressions and how easily society condemns and rejects people for a variety of reasons. Maybe you would think, “yes i should be more inclusive, attentive to the outcasts in my social environment, not judging others easily”, etc… This is fine, we would call this a moral interpretation of the Scriptures, ending in practical resolutions, what to do and what not to do. 

But, how can this passage touch your core and transform your soul? This is the question for the spiritual interpretation of the Scriptures. It’s not enough to stay in the literal and the moral dimensions. In the spiritual level, you and me are the leper, we come to Jesus and falling on our knees ask him for healing: “if you want, you can heal me”... You may see his heart deeply moved in pity, his countenance serene and his hand outstretched ready to touch your wounds and all the disgusting things we did… saying “I do will, be clean”. Our hearts are covered by sores, if we don’t come frequently to the Physician (and to Mary, the “Salus Infirmorum”) and experience this fascinating healing, how can we be able to help others?

Fr. Remi Morales, SCV