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+ I DO WILL IT. BE MADE CLEAN 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time-B
These words of Jesus reveal more than what first meets the ear. They are telling
us about God’s place in the suffering each one of us experiences in his or her
life. They are telling us about a love that reaches right into where we are most
sensitive, fragile and vulnerable. It is a love that is even now moving God to
enter into, to touch the hurt, the pain, the alienation that separate us from
ourselves, from one another and the wonder of the world we live in.
The book of Leviticus spoke to us of leprosy, a term that covered a wide variety
of skin diseases, diseases that left untreated became very distressful. But the
real affliction of these illnesses was not the physical suffering they caused
but the social isolation or separation they brought about by their very nature.
Any person afflicted with one of these diseases, who had on his or her skin “a
scab or pustule or blotch” became ritually unclean. Anyone who came into contact
with such a person was also unclean, unqualified to participate in either the
worship or ordinary life of a community. Lepers were literally banished from the
community and for a person of the Middle East this was one of the most painful
things he or she could experience.
The notion of leprosy in our readings serves well as a metaphor for something
that is far more pervasive in our experience. A Benedictine Sister, Meg Funk,
recently gave the community a series of conferences on the afflictions a monk
discovers in his life, those of addiction to food or drink, afflictions of
lustful thoughts or anger, afflictions of boredom, depression or pride and how
these can weigh heavily upon a person under their influence. Discovering one or
more of these, he may even begin to think that monastic life is impossible for
him, that he must leave the community and return to the world where he had at
least some measure of well-being. And there are many other forms of leprosy
affecting our families, communities, Church and society. There is scandal of
sexual abuse that is far more widespread than was previously acknowledged. There
is the widening gap between rich and poor with devastating effect to both. There
is the enormous pain around the reality of homosexuality in our society. There
is the labeling of conservative and progressive, the awful destruction of human
life while still in the womb, the daily news of violence on our streets, in
Iraq, the Middle East and various other parts of the world.
When the leper comes kneeling before Jesus and begs him “If you wish, you can
make me clean” he is asking him far more than for a cure of his disease. He is
asking to be “made clean,” to no longer be ostracized from his people and
community but once again to be accepted as a brother or sister. Jesus is moved
with pity and here the Greek word means deep inner groans, a heartfelt sense of
compassion. And then he does something, a simple gesture that speaks volumes, he
stretches out his hand and touches him, saying: “I do will it, Be made clean.”
Jesus is revealing how he is toward all our human weakness, disease, affliction.
He reaches out and touches! As God incarnate he has taken on all our human
suffering and alienation, all that makes us ritually unclean and says: “I will
make you well, make you clean, if this is what you want of me.” Jesus has put
himself right at the heart of all our afflictions whether of mind, body or
spirit. Strangely enough, they may be exactly what makes us aware of our total
dependence on God as we begin to see them in the light of faith. It is they, our
very afflictions that enable us to cry out with the leper: “If you wish, you can
make me clean.” It is they that break open our hearts to recognize a God who has
entered fully into our human condition who has become one with our humanity.
The leper is you and me and what Jesus heals is our separation from our deepest
identity as children of God, as heirs of eternal life. Jesus cures us of all
that separates us from the divine life within, the life, the fire of the Holy
Spirit which he came to cast upon the earth. If we allow this healing to take
place then everything we think, do or say will reflect the divine image that is
in each of us. Our lives, like that of leper in the gospel, will spread the
report everywhere, witness to all around as to what Jesus has done.
There is a story told of the great sculptor, Michelangelo, who was at work on
one of his statues when a friend called on him and said: ‘I can’t see any
difference in the statue since I came here a week ago. Have you not been doing
any work all the week?’ ‘Yes,’ said the sculptor, ‘I have retouched this part,
softened this feature, strengthened this muscle, and put more life into that
limb.’ ‘But those are only trifles,’ said the friend. ‘True,’ said Michelangelo,
‘but trifles make perfection, and perfection is no trifle.” What Jesus is doing
in each one of our lives is bringing to perfection the truth and beauty of each
one of us for the whole world to see.
The Eucharist is a weekly if not daily reminder of just how close God comes to
us. As we bring here to the alter bread and wine, symbols of all that makes up
each of our lives and hear the words of consecration, we are given a glimpse
into what God’s becoming flesh is about. To receive this Bread and Wine now
become the Body and Blood of the Lord is to let ourselves know the depth of
God’s plan, to know just how much God touches our human pain and suffering.
Leviticus 13:1-2, 44-46; 1 Cor. 1031-111; Mk 140-45
Michael Casagram, OCSO
Abbey of Gethsemani
February 12, 2006
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