Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Reading I
Lev 13:1-2, 44-46
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
"If someone has on his skin a scab or pustule or blotch
which appears to be the sore of leprosy,
he shall be brought to Aaron, the priest,
or to one of the priests among his descendants.
If the man is leprous and unclean,
the priest shall declare him unclean
by reason of the sore on his head.

"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!'
As long as the sore is on him he shall declare himself unclean,
since he is in fact unclean.
He shall dwell apart, making his abode outside the camp."

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 32:1-2, 5, 11
R. (7) I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble, and you fill me with the joy of salvation.
Blessed is he whose fault is taken away,
whose sin is covered.
Blessed the man to whom the LORD imputes not guilt,
in whose spirit there is no guile.
R. I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble, and you fill me with the joy of salvation.
Then I acknowledged my sin to you,
my guilt I covered not.
I said, 'I confess my faults to the LORD,'
and you took away the guilt of my sin.
R. I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble, and you fill me with the joy of salvation.
Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you just;
exult, all you upright of heart.
R. I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble, and you fill me with the joy of salvation.

Reading II
1 Cor 10:31--11:1
Brothers and sisters,
Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do,
do everything for the glory of God.
Avoid giving offense, whether to the Jews or Greeks or the church of God,
just as I try to please everyone in every way,
not seeking my own benefit but that of the many,
that they may be saved.
Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

Gospel
Mk 1:40-45
A leper came to Jesus and kneeling down begged him and said,
"If you wish, you can make me clean."
Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand,
touched him, and said to him,
"I do will it. Be made clean."
The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean.
Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once.

He said to him, "See that you tell no one anything,
but go, show yourself to the priest
and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed;
that will be proof for them."

The man went away and began to publicize the whole matter.
He spread the report abroad
so that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly.
He remained outside in deserted places,
and people kept coming to him from everywhere.

COMMENTARY

 Not every skin disease made a person unclean, but only those considered active and, therefore infectious.  Indeed, the first reading from the Book of Leviticus is not really concerned with Hansen’s Disease per se, but rather with temporary skin disorders which were curable at the time.  In fact the term “leprosy” (the Hebrew sāra‛at) was used much more widely than it is today.  Ordinary skin blotches, scabs resulting from boils or burns, scalp disorders, face eruptions, and baldness were not signs of impurity so long as they were devoid of infectious symptoms.  Whiteness of the skin, the aftermath of a skin disease, was a sign of healing and indicated cleanliness.

The determination of the disease’s active or inactive state belonged to the priest, who exercised his function not as a physician but rather as a judge and interpreter of the law, whose favorable decision was required before purification rites permitting reentry into the community could be initiated.  When a case was doubtful, a period of quarantine was imposed, lasting in some cases a week (verses 21, 26) or at most a fortnight.  During the time of the his uncleanness the diseased person had to remain outside the city, giving notice of his condition to the unsuspecting through the customary signs indicative of his state: torn garments, long, flowing hair, covered beard, and the repeated cry “Unclean!”

For Paul, all things are lawful in Christ, but this does not imply that all things are good or constructive to the community, which is the goal that binds all Christians.  Whereas public ritual banquets are excluded on the basis of the scandal and division thy might provoke, Paul grounds the Christian’s freedom to eat anything that is served at private meals in the love command.  Christ put an end to the law that distinguishes between clean and unclean foods.  Love alone is the absolute enabling the believer to eat of the fullness of creation.  Food is irrelevant.  Just as charity gives the believer the freedom to eat anything, it may also, in some instances, require abstinence.

The first part of the Gospel story follows the usual outline of Marcan healing accounts: the disease is described; Jesus heals; and the healing is clearly complete.  Then it is complicated by Jesus’ command that the man should show himself to the priest (1:43-44).  But the most complicating feature comes in the final verse.  Did the man disobey Jesus by not remaining silent and instead publicize the event?

For Jesus to have touched the man required great compassion.  By coming into contact with the man, Jesus would also be considered “unclean” and an outcast – yet he was “moved with pity”.  Jesus’ instructions to “tell no one”, is to have the man fulfill the rulings found in Leviticus 14 as soon as possible, which outline the regulations for proving that one had been cleansed from leprosy and the sacrifice that should accompany such healing.

REFLECTION

Some 2,200 miles southwest of California, in the heart of the Hawaiian Islands, is the Island of Molokai.  It is a place of stunning beauty where the world’s tallest sea cliffs are found.  The beauty and grandeur of the cliffs separate the district of Kalaupapa from the rest of the Island of Molokai, making it an extremely isolated and inaccessible place.  Molokai has been blessed by nature’s grandeur, and cursed by humanity’s ignorance and fear.

Surrounded by the Pacific Ocean on three sides and cut off from the rest of Molokai by the 1600-foot cliffs, Kalaupapa provided the perfect environment for victims of leprosy (Hansen’s disease).  In early 1866, the first victims of leprosy from the Hawaiian Islands were shipped to Kalaupapa.  The place had absolutely no amenities; no buildings, shelters, nor portable water.  Those suffering from leprosy lived among the rocks and caves, or made the most rudimentary of shelters from sticks and leaves.

The “lepers” were transported to Kalaupapa in ships, and many were forced to jump overboard and swim for their lives.  Countless numbers of them drowned before reaching the shore.  The ship’s crew would then throw whatever supplies had been sent into to water, where the currents would hopefully carry them ashore; otherwise the lepers themselves would have to swim out to retrieve them.

Born in Belgium, Father Damian deVeuster arrived at Kalaupapa in 1873 at the age of 33.  A Catholic missionary priest of the Sacred Heart Fathers, he served the leprosy patients at Kalaupapa until his death.  Father Damien did more than simply administer the faith; he built homes, churches and coffins (more than 700 of them built by hand); arranged for medical services and funding from Honolulu.  After 16 years of selfless service to the leper of Molokai – after living the Gospel to the fullest – Father Damien’s life was also claimed by this dreaded disease.  Father Damien was not afraid of touching the lepers; in fact his constant contact with them resulted in his contracting the disease.  In a world that turns its back on the outcasts, Father Damien is a shining example of today’s Gospel message.

Today, science has found a cure for Hansen’s disease through the use of sulfonamides, however, the stigma of being a leper persists.  In our society, people continue to treat their fellow man as lepers even if they are not suffering from the disease.  Just as lepers were and continue to be ostracized, society also marginalizes all those who are different, those who don’t “fit in” to our preconceived ideas of normality.  Jesus assures us that what makes a person unclean is not physical or mental disease, suffering, or poverty but rather the hardness of the human heart.

How many “lepers” have we avoided throughout the course of our lives because we don’t want to be “stained” by them: the homeless, the addicted, the sexual promiscuous, the riffraff, in essence the sinner.  We draw an imaginary line between them and us to separate ourselves from their inequity, yet if we take a good look at ourselves we find that we too have faults that others want to avoid.  We will complain that our churches are empty and people are moving away from God but when these “heathen” finally do come to a church service we criticize them and become offended because they might not behave as we do.  We fail to embrace them as Jesus embraced the leper in today’s Gospel.  In the end we do not take to heart the words of the Gospel and therefore cannot truly commit ourselves to living the Gospel to the fullest like Father Damian did in the Island of Molokai.

As true disciples of Christ, we need to look beyond what our eyes see and look deep into our fellow man and discover within them an irreplaceable being created by God.  We need to see in everyone a dignity that demands our respect and love.  We need to see in them what Father Damian saw – the image of Jesus Christ, and embrace them as if it were Christ himself we were holding in our arms.

Biblical Sources:

New American Bible; United States Conference of Catholic Bishops; Murphy-O’ Connor, J., “St. Paul’s Corinth: Texts and Archaeology”; Theissen, G., “The Social Setting of Pauline Christianity: Essays on Corinth”; The Collegeville Bible Commentary; Kingsbury, J.D., “The Christology of Mark’s Gospel”; Schweizer, E, “The Good News According to Mark”; Tucket, C. (ed.), “The Messianic Secret”; Brown, Raymond E., S.S., “Introduction to the New Testament”; Brown, Fitzmyer, and Murphy (ed.) “The New Jerome Biblical Commentary.

Reflection:

Deacon Lazaro J. Ulloa