6th Sunday- “If you wish, you can make me clean.”

On February 11, in the newspaper Northern Kentucky life, I happened to read an article with a title “Taking wrong turn put man in right place to be a hero” Adolfo Valle, a 25-year-old Mexican man was trying to find his way to Kroger in Bellevue with his mother-in-law, when they took a wrong turn and found themselves in Newport’s west end. That was when he saw three buildings on fire in the 900 block of Central Avenue. He said that he heard screams coming from Brown’s house. Without thinking of his own safety, he got out of the car and ran toward the house. There he saw the house was filled with smoke, and Ruby Brown, 82 and her daughter, Pauline, 55, were struggling to get Moore, who has cerebral palsy, out the door. Valle made his way through the smoke and carried Moore outside to safety then he left. For this family Valle is a savior, because he came exactly in their time of need and saved the life of Moore. In today’s gospel we see a big Savior, Jesus, who brings a leper back to his normal life.

Today’s first reading from the book of Leviticus speaks of the pathetic condition of lepers in those days. And in the second reading St. Paul tells the Corinthian community, every act of a Christian’s day should give honor and glory to God. Today’s gospel describes Jesus touching a man sick with a severe case of leprosy and healing him instantly.

In ancient times, leprosy was believed to be deforming, incurable and contagious. Lepers were expelled from their families and neighbors and forced to live outside the villages and towns. The fate of the leper was truly horrible. As soon as the first signs of the disease appeared, the afflicted person was barred from all social life and forced to withdraw from society. This meant saying farewell to his family, leaving behind his way of life, his trade, everything and everybody he had ever known and loved. They were referred to as the living dead. It is also considered that they were obviously cursed by God for their sins. Lepers had to wear ragged clothes. They had to let their hair go uncombed and uncut. As today’s reading says, they had to cover their mouths with one hand and call out unclean, unclean as they walked. Anyone who came into any contact, whatsoever with a leper, was considered to be unclean like the leper.

Normally a leper would hate his life and be very depressed. It is in this situation; Jesus came to him, touched him, cured him and brought him back to normal life. That touch was enough to heal the external sores, and best of all, those deep-down inner hurts that come with rejection, unwanted, exclusion and isolation. His life was changed in an instant. He was restored to his friends and to society, which he thought lost forever. He could lead a normal life again.

For Jesus, there are no such barriers as unclean or untouchable or sinner or tax collector. Everybody is a child of God. Jesus is the friend of everyone. His touch gives hope where there is no hope. His care restores people to union with one another and with God. Jesus challenges us to become saviors of life by doing good to others in their needs, by accepting others unconditionally as our brothers and sisters.  We are also saved by God through the gift of his blood and body. Everyone is precious to him, so we should seriously reflect on our responsibility to live a life worthy of the fact that Jesus has saved us. If we are saved, we should look saved, and live like people who are saved. The sacrament of reconciliation helps us to clean our mind and heart and helps us be worthy enough to receive Jesus in our heart. Each time when we celebrate the mass, Jesus is inviting us to participate, and in the time of communion he comes to touch our life and cleans us. Let us kneel down in front of Jesus and ask him to touch us as He did the leper.

May God bless you.

-Fr Johnson