Posted by The WORD in other words (2021) by Fr Benigno Beltran SVD – Sacred Heart Parish, Quezon City
6th Sunday in Ordinary Time – B
When the priests in the Old Testament declared somebody a leper, he or she was excluded from the community by divine decree, as the First Reading declares. Leprosy was deemed a primal source of spiritual uncleanness among the Jews. With their open sores and dirty bandages, they rang bells to announce to others their approach. People were not to get within a stone’s throw from lepers, or they would become ritually unclean. Dead bodies could transfer ritual impurity to people through touch, and so could a leper.
The leper in today’s Gospel broke through this religious taboo even as he was barred by Mosaic Law from touching others ever again. He approached Jesus, believing that he had both the willingness and the power to cleanse him.
Jesus also broke through religious barriers by touching the leprous man even before healing him. And Jesus not only healed this man of his terrible disease but also restored him to the religious and social community by telling him to present himself to the priests who once declared him unclean.
Our Lord also calls on us to break out of our cocoons and minister to the untouchables, to touch the lepers in our communities – the scavengers in the garbage dumps, those ridden with hideous diseases, the prostitutes and drug addicts. As he healed their bodies, let us also, in imitation of Christ, help restore the damaged relationships of these often marginalized people.
“Lord, we touch you today!” goes a famous song often sung at Mass. Let us beseech Christ to touch us today and heal us, and give us the strength to touch the “untouchables” in our community.
In your present state of life, what would it mean for Jesus to touch you today? Where do you especially need his healing touch? Who do you have trouble “touching” because they are unattractive, even repulsive? How do you communicate compassion to those starving for a tender touch?
Healing starts when we take the first step. Healing begins when we start to reach out to Jesus. Healing happens when we start to do something about the “untouchables” in our community, when we do everything for the glory of God.
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