Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time (B)

In today’s gospel we see Jesus curing a leper. In the first reading we hear how severe were the regulations concerning lepers among the Jewish people. Anyone who was inflicted with leprosy was considered unclean and had to live apart. Now in the gospel passage, the leper comes to Jesus and falls on his knees before him. He does not seem to be observing these regulations. He is not keeping apart. And Jesus responds. He stretches out his hand and touches the leper. Jesus does not seem to be keeping to the regulations either.

Please do not misunderstand me. In highlighting the conduct of both the leper and Jesus I am not encouraging you to go against current regulations about distancing. On the contrary, I think the observation of these rules is very important and is a way of showing our respect and love for our brothers and sisters.

What I do want to insist on is first the confidence of the leper who comes to Jesus and says, very respectfully: “If you want to, you can cure me.” He does not demand anything; he just puts himself in the Lord’s hands. And Jesus responds because he is full of compassion: “Of course I want to! Be cured.”

Can we have the same confidence in Jesus? We all have our form of leprosy, the sin which disturbs our relations with others, whether it be pride or jealousy, envy or anger. We can present ourselves to Jesus, just as we are, without any pretense, trusting that he can change our hearts.

After curing this man Jesus tells him to show himself to the priest. He wants him to receive official recognition of his cure so that he can be re-integrated into the community. Our way of re-integration into the community of the Church is through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Like a clot which prevents the blood from circulating, so sin prevents the flow of grace in the Body of Christ. Confessing our sin to a representative of the Church is a way of removing the blockage. By receiving forgiveness in the sacrament that lies at the heart of our process of conversion, we in turn can spread forgiveness to others. Of course, as we know, it is hard if not impossible at these times to approach a priest and to celebrate the sacrament of Reconciliation. Let us hope that for Easter we shall be able to do so more easily. In the meantime we approach the Lord Jesus in prayer, with the confidence and trust of the leper, and ask for forgiveness and healing.

We notice in the Gospel account of this cure that the cured man does not seem to go immediately to the priest, but goes around speaking about his experience, “telling his story everywhere”. We can ask ourselves: Am I ready to talk about my experience of Jesus? This is not easy, especially in our world today, a world which is often indifferent to religious values. At least we can try to have the attitude of Jesus, an attitude of openness and respect for each person. The apostle Paul, who had such a good grasp of the Gospel message, tells us what to do: “Never do anything offensive to anyone…try to be helpful to everyone at all times, not anxious for [our] own advantage, but the advantage of everyone else.”

Cardinal Michael Fitzgerald