Wounded

— By Lisa Greey

Imagine for a moment that anyone with acne was banned to live alone, to live on the outskirts of town, to avoid others at all costs.  A large amount of students at school wouldn’t be there now would they? Well acne is not contagious or life threatening, but leprosy was, in Jesus’ time and still is today.  People with leprosy and other contagious diseases were cast aside in society, forced to bear the burden of their illness alone.  Today, especially in America, most diseases that are contagious are treatable.  You get sent home with pink eye or strep throat, but you are certainly not quarantined.  Yet the first reading today shows us a very different situation for someone with a contagious, incurable disease: “The 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!”

A leper breaks this “law”  in the Gospel reading.  Instead of muffling his voice and remaining apart from others, he comes close to Christ.  He doesn’t ask to be healed.  He acknowledges that Jesus has the power to heal him, “If you wish, you can make me clean.” This is a true statement of faith.  He says, in essence, “Jesus I know you are able to heal me, so if it is your will, please do so.” Now Jesus is the one who breaks the social norm: He reaches out and touches him.  Others, especially religious leaders, would have walked away from this man.  They would have reprimanded him for breaking the law.  Jesus responds in love and affirmation.  He looks beyond the disease and sees a human being, one with great faith.  It is not always our gut response to reach out and touch someone who is disfigured – by poverty, malnourishment, or great illness.  Yet this is the response of Christ; he reaches out, touches the wound and heals it.

Are we so different from the leper?  No – we just have our disfigurement on the inside through our sin or difficult experiences.  Whatever the wound we bear, Christ wants to reach out and touch it.  However, he won’t do so without our permission.  He respects our boundaries.  Today, let us pray for the faith to approach Jesus like the leper, and have faith that he can heal our wounds.