I’m really good at keeping peoples’ secrets, but it’s extremely difficult for me to do so. Friends and family telling me they’re engaged, pregnant, joining the seminary, fleeing the country (note: those things did not happen to one person at the same time…also one of them might be a stretch..)—whatever information people entrust me with, I view that information as sacred. Again, though, it’s really hard for me to do this! For example, when my sister and brother-in-law told my family and me they were going to have a baby, it was pretty tough for me to not spread the word, but it would have been wrong for me to tell others before they had the chance to tell them on their own timing. So, when people asked, “how is your sister doing?” I would just say “fine” as I felt like I was going to explode inside.
That being said, I’ve always both understood where the healed leper in today’s Gospel is coming from and also had a little bit of beef with him for spilling a secret that Jesus specifically told him not to. I have to be honest that the reactions I’ve had to this Gospel are typically something like, “c’mon, man, why you gotta be such a big mouth after Jesus healed you?!” I’ve always had this question as to why this man couldn’t even keep his secret with Jesus hidden for just a little while. Obviously he knew this Jesus was a big deal, so why didn’t he do what he asked of him?
In today’s Second Reading, St. Paul urges us to “do everything for the glory of God.” As I continued to ponder the healed leper spilling the beans, I couldn’t help but start to think about the Gospel in light of St. Paul’s words. This man was completely outcast by society because of his leprosy. When Jesus heals him, his life completely changes. He no longer has to stay with the lepers, exiled from the rest of the town. Instead, he is able to be with the rest of society. The more I thought about it, the more I couldn’t help but wonder: how could he not proclaim the glory of God from the rooftops?
I obviously can’t be certain about this man’s intentions, but I don’t think I would be far off to say that his desire was not to direct attention to himself, but to Jesus and what he had done. Sure, it then became more difficult for Jesus to enter towns, but that didn’t stop people from finding him! If this guy was all about glorifying himself, I don’t think his message would have made people go out to deserted places to find Jesus. In this case, this man truly was doing what he was doing for the glory of God.
I’m still a big advocate for keeping people’s secrets, but now that I’ve put myself in this man’s shoes (well, I guess they only wore sandals back then), I think it’s safe to say that I probably wouldn’t have kept Jesus’ healing powers a secret either. My hope would be, though, that, like this man, I wouldn’t tell others so that I might be noticed, but so that God might be glorified.
Jesus, you desire to heal each of our wounds. Give us the grace to accept your healing, and, like the leper, may we give you all the glory for what you have done. Amen.
Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time