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Homily for the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Read: (Lev 13: 1-2, 44-46; 1 Cor 10: 31-11: 1; Mk 1: 40-45)

Reflect: Be holy, give glory to God and manifest the compassionate touch of Jesus to others…

Dear friends we are in the Sixth Sunday in ordinary time. The liturgy of the day invites us manifest the compassionate face of the heavenly Father by word and deed. God has manifested his face in the person of Christ, his Son Jesus. Everyone, who has Christ, has the power to manifest the compassionate face of the heavenly Father to each one. Holiness of life, giving glory to God in all circumstances and at all times could be some of the ways of reflecting and manifesting the compassionate face and touch of the Heavenly Father. So based on the liturgy of the word, I would like to share with you three points of reflections;

1. Be holy to the Lord:

In the book of Leviticus we read, “For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. And you shall not make yourselves unclean with any of the swarming things that swarm on the earth,” (Lev 11: 44). Yes, it is an invitation to all of us to be holy to the Lord, consecrating and purifying ourselves all that defiles us or makes us unholy. Perhaps, the biblical Scholars view and say that Chapters 13 and 14 of Leviticus form a unit dealing with the effect of serious skin diseases on persons, clothing, and houses. The primary focus of these chapters is the meaning of holiness as physical wholeness. Anyone who has the symptoms inclined to leprosy or related skin disease was considered not complete. And such diseases were considered contagious, capable of contaminating even clothing and buildings. So for the people of God, wholeness or wellness of oneself was equal to holiness. Only perfect animals, without stain, could be brought to the tabernacle for offering to God. Wholeness was required of the priests and the defects need to be taken seriously. 

Today’s first reading from the book of Leviticus present before us the instructions of the Lord to Moses and Aaron about leprosy, the cruel skin disease. The reading speaks as well what the leper needs to do and should not do. Looking deeply at the first reading, it reminds us that how important is holiness and purity of life before God. The first reading also tells us that anyone, who is inclined to leprosy or related such diseases with symptoms, needs to be brought before the priest for examination to consider one is clean or unclean and then obtain a pronouncement from priests whether one is clean or not. The reason why the priests were involved in examining clean or unclean is because leprosy or skin disease was considered due to sin or sinful living. It was thought to be a punishment from God for their sins or sinfulness. The miserable state of those pronounced unclean due to serious skin diseases was required to live outside the camp, for it was within the camp that God lived with the people. Impure or unclean persons had no place within the community. However, there is a provision made in Leviticus 14, to restore the person to the community when the healing of the skin disease is done. Therefore, the separation of the diseased person must not be seen as a punishment but as a means of preserving the health and purity of the community in its relationship with the God who is holy.

While we look at the priest examining the clean and the unclean, the biblical Scholars too make a mention that chapters (Lev 13-14) do not have a medical concern. The priest is not a doctor and the afflicted person is not a patient. The concern is to just find clean or unclean the person. Therefore, what we see here is the priestly system of purity and impurity. The main concern was to maintain the purity and holiness of the divine dwelling of God. The priest being the one, who is specialized in cultic or worship aspects examines the skin diseases and determines whether they are clean or unclean. Although the leprosy or skin related disease has an isolation and deprivation of oneself from the community one belongs, yet, it reminds us sin and sinfulness keeps us away from God. Just as any sickness makes us vulnerable and weak, so also sin makes us more vulnerable and takes away our divine touch and union with God. 

Today, perhaps we may not face with leprosy or any skin-related diseases, but we all of us face or have sinfulness and sin that makes us sick and separates us from God and failing our sanctity of life. Just as any sickness keeps us isolated from the other, so also sin does to us. We are isolated, feel abandoned and become sick due to sin. The only available tool is prayer and sacraments. Through prayer we get connected with God and through the sacrament of reconciliation, our sins are washed, we become reconciled with God and with one another. As we are at the verge of beginning season of Lent, let us be united with God in Prayer and frequent the Sacrament of Reconciliation for renewal of life and purification from sin. Yes, it is true that sins make us fall and fail in life but God gives us opportunities to rise to walk in the newness of life through prayer and Sacrament of Reconciliation, provided we make efforts and go to God. 

As Pope Francis tell us beautifully, “The Church is holy because it proceeds from God who is holy. It is not holy by our merits; we are not able to make her holy. It is God, the Holy Spirit, who in his Love makes the Church holy.” Yes, the Church of God is holy as God who established the Church is holy. If we wish to continue keeping the Church of God as Holy, we have to realize the holiness of God in the Church and the holiness of God in us. We need to open ourselves to God’s invitation and opportunities that he offers us every day. We need to allow the Holy Spirit to animate our lives and abide in God’s love. So that our every effort to keep ourselves holy, as God wishes us to be holy bears fruit in life.

2. Do all for God’s glory:

Pope Francis says, “Giving God glory in everything sums up what it means to be a friend of Jesus. God’s glory is the needle of our moral compass. By it we recognize God’s voice and can know his will.” Yes, by giving glory to God in all that we do brings us close to God in intimacy and faithfulness. So God’s glory stands at the center of all that we do and say. When our actions are good and pleasing in the sight of God, we give glory to God. That’s what St. Paul tells us in the second reading from First Letter to Corinthians; “Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” The statement of St. Paul reveals us that we should never seek our own self-interest or self-glory rather our every focus should be God’s glory. The following verses of the Second Reading reveal how we can give glory to God like St. Paul; Give no offence to anyone, please everyone in everything, do not seek one’s own interest but that of many and above all follow the example of Christ. I would like to substantiate the same in the points below;

The phrase, “Give no offence to anyone” is a reminder that we are called to love everyone with a right approach and attitude. Giving offence to others or using offensive words or deeds against others only brings in contempt, division, hatred and havoc in human relationships. Therefore, we need to be loving and kind-hearted to one another. When we love and show kindness to others, we give glory to God. The phrase, “pleasing everyone in everything,” is a reminder to make everyone happy possibly all times, although it is hard. When we inflict pain upon the other, we only bring sadness and grief. Our aim in life is to make others happy and be at peace with one another to live in harmony. Perhaps, when we make others happy by right ways and means, we bring glory to God. The phrase, “Do not seek self-interest but the interest of many,” is a reminder that we focus on the other or be other-centered, because self-interest only gives joy and happiness to self but other-centered acts give happiness and peace to many. Therefore, by other-centeredness and other-orientedness, we give glory to God. In a way, it just reminds us of St. Paul’s attitude to work out salvation in Christ to all without any difference or bias. 

Above all, the last phrase of the Second Reading, “Follow the example of Christ” is a reminder to follow Christ’s values and live by the teaching of Christ.  This is what St. Paul himself did in his life. He followed Christ, his way of life, values and teaching and made others to do the same. Therefore, St. Paul invites the Corinthian community to be like him in following Christ and today it is an open invitation to each one of us to imitate Christ as closely as possible in order to obtain grace and blessings from God in life. One of the surest ways of bringing glory to God is to follow Christ and his self-emptying love. Jesus emptied himself to make known the love of God to entire humanity, so also we need to be selfless in life in order to glorify God by our ways of living. 

Very beautifully Pope Francis, while he addressed 70,000 altar servers in Rome shared, “Maybe you are wondering: ‘Can I do this?  Isn’t it too much for me?” The mission is certainly a great one, but it is not impossible. St Paul provides the key when he says to imitate him as he imitates Christ (1 Cor 11:1). Imitating Christ and the saints makes it possible for us to carry out the mission. They are the living Gospel, because they translated the message of Christ in their own lives.” Yes, Jesus is the gospel and salvation himself. Certainly, it is a hard thing to be Christ-like and follow him or his ways, but the moment we make efforts to follow Christ and his way of life, Jesus helps us and enables us to cling to him. When we follow Christ, his values and teachings in our lives, we become another Christ or resemble Christ. By becoming Christ-like we become the children of God. By being and living as Children of God would the highest moment of giving glory to God, because our lives need to be a reflection of God’s glory.

3. Touch Compassionately others like Jesus:

Giving the compassionate touch of Jesus is nothing but touching others with mercy and compassion. Jesus touched and healed many in compassion and love. To touch someone who has leprosy was a taboo in the Jewish society and it had its own norms too. But we see Jesus’ compassionate touch to the leper. We all know that Leprosy is a social disease that distances people from oneself, because the disease is contagious. They are sent into exile, so that they don’t come into contact with others. It is also said that the Lepers have to cry out, “Unclean, Unclean,” wherever they walk, so that they maintain the distance and don’t come into contact or touch other persons. Therefore, of all many diseases that are related to skin disease leprosy is more severe and painful physically, socially and spiritually; physically the leprosy is incurable, socially they are rejected and distanced, spiritually they are considered unclean or sinful. As one of the bible scholars have said, “It is one thing to be condemned to die, but it is quite another thing to die in isolation.” yes, leprosy causes death in isolation as they are rejected, distanced and considered unclean. 

In all surety, Jesus was aware of the rules and regulation, customs of the Jewish society concerning leprosy and lepers. Yet, Jesus takes a different stand and step to make the leper feel close to God by the offer of Salvation that Jesus grants the leper. The Gospel reading presents to us the episode of a leper voluntarily seeking for Jesus’ healing and after the healing; he freely, willingly, voluntarily and joyfully goes about proclaiming about Christ, although he’s been warned strictly by Jesus not to make Christ’s work known to others. The previous episodes to the passage of today from the Gospel of Mark, we see Jesus’ teaching and driving away the evil spirit (Mk 1: 21-28) and the episode where Jesus heals many and the mother –in-law of Simon Peter (Mk 1: 29-34), following is the passage that speaks of Jesus spending time with God in a desolated place in prayer (Mk 1:35-39) And the episode of Jesus curing a leper comes after the healing narratives. 

Almost certainly, the leper might have heard the presence and power of Jesus in and around the village, therefore, he takes courage to ask Jesus and places a request, “If you will, you can make me clean.”  The deep desire and wish of the leper is more clearly visible in the Gospel reading of the day. His request, “If you will, you can make me clean,” can be taken positively, because it shows his utter belief in the power of Jesus to heal the leper of his leprosy. Yes, the lepers’ voluntary coming reminds us that when we believe in the presence and the power of Jesus, we could be healed of many sicknesses in life. His willingness and freedom to proclaim Christ to others reminds us that the work of Christ cannot be hidden; the power of Christ in us would trigger us to manifest spontaneously the saving act of God to all by all means. Therefore, the experience of Jesus’ power in us will never be controlled or covered within us. The power of Jesus would make us to proclaim Christ’s deeds to one another. 

We could say in all certainty that the power of Jesus’ compassion manifested to the leper has healed him of his leprosy. Jesus does not merely feel compassion for him rather goes an extra step to touch the leper, violating the rule of touch and distance according to the customs or norms of the Jewish society. Jesus reaches out to him in compassionate love and manifests the leper the divine touch by granting the leper a perfect healing. Most of us in life are not ready and willing to ask the Lord for healing, whenever we go through a hard process of suffering or pain. At times we lack faith to come forward to Jesus or situations make us ignore Christ and his presence. Even if we have been healed by God, we immediately tend to forget as the pain eases and do not share with others the good works or great deeds that God has done in our life. Perhaps, God does not expect our human appraisal but to acknowledge God’s healing power is a sign of our gratitude to God’s blessings. 

Today, we need to realize that Jesus is ever ready to heal us, because by nature Jesus is compassionate and manifests the compassionate face of the heavenly Father himself. Once we are healed and made well by the compassionate touch of Jesus, it is our part now to touch others and bring healing by ways of compassion and love. So let us go with a deep faith in the power of Jesus to be healed and share the goodness and great works of God to others. I am sure, once we allow the Lord to touch us or we go to God to touch and heal us, there would be joy and peace within and around us all over.

Respond:

Do we make efforts to sustain the holiness required to encounter God and be with God?

Do we boast in the glory of God or take pride in self-glory?

Do we touch others compassionately in mercy and love like Jesus or look at others with hatred and detest feelings?

Let us sustain the holiness of life in us, give glory to God and compassionately touch others like Jesus in love and mercy. Amen.

God bless us all! Live Jesus!

Fr. Ramesh George MSFS

rameshvkmsfs@gmail.com

9500930968