The WORD in other words (2015) by Frater Kevin James Pizarras, SVD – Divine Word Seminary Tagaytay
Friday 12th Week in Ordinary Time
For many years, from my primary school years to university years, I suffered skim asthma, a disease triggered by eating seafood, chicken, and so on. My feet was much affected that , at times, I was forced to wear slippers in school. Eventually, it became a source of laughter and ridicule among my classmates and friends. Several times I was hurt by the way I became an object of jokes. For more than twenty years my sickness became part of my prayer life. I always prayed for God to cure me.
My parents did their best to find a cure to my sickness. We went to other cities like Cebu looking for doctors specializing in skin diseases. Our relatives and friends suggested a lot of clinics and hospitals. Alas! Even the most popular dermatologist could not prescribe a medicine to liberate me from my skin asthma. So, I accepted my fate and moved on with the reality of living with this skin problem forever.
During my year of formation as postulant, I was surprised to know that skin diseases could be a reaction to a certain psychological needs such as belongingness, intimacy, and affection. Indeed, as a son of an OFW parents who were either away from home or so much engaged in their work, I eagerly sought for satisfaction of these psychological needs.
Deep inside me, I was desperate for God’s healing. I could emphasize well with the leper in today’s Gospel, his feeling of being ostracized and bullied, his continuous search for the best doctor in town, and his longing for Jesus to liberate him from the evil of leprosy.
The leper’s cry is also my cry. As one among the wounded people, it is our cry too. Today, thousands of ‘lepers’ in our midst await to be healed and freed from all sorts of sickness and maladies. Imagine those people who flock to healing Masses and fellowships.
Yet let us not despair, for the Lord shall one day descend from the mountains, and we ‘lepers’ of all sorts, shall approach, do him hommage from the mountain, and we lepers of all sort, shall approach, do him homage and be made clean, not only physically but holistically, not only at that moment but forever. It will be an experience of healing grace from the Divine Healer.
