15 February 2015
6th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Leprosy in ancient times was somewhat akin to our modern day Ebola. Isolation of the patient was vital. And for the ancient Israelites who had a strong corporate identity, alienation from the community could be devastating. And as if the disease was not humiliating enough, the leper had to announce his uncleanness to those around him.The purity laws described in the Book of Leviticus were intended not only to separate the clean from
the unclean, but the sacred from the profane. It’s no wonder that it was the priest who had to verify the cleansing and admit the leper back into fellowship. It was also believed that the leprosy was the result of sin. Spiritual uncleanness disqualified people from participating in community worship. More humiliation!
In today’s Gospel Jesus encounters a leper who begs the Lord to make him clean. With the leper’s social, physical and psychological baggage, it will take a God “moved with pity” to remove the bonds of humiliation, pain and suffering. But there is a strange twist as this brief story comes to an end. Following his healing, the leper does not obey the command of Jesus to “tell no one anything.”* Can we blame this man for wanting to shout his good fortune from the housetops? Would that, in fact, make his cleansing invalid as he is not even allowed to tell the priest? Mark tells us that following this encounter Jesus remained outside in deserted places as it was impossible for him to enter a town openly. Has Jesus now become the outcast, putting himself outside of the community, assuming the place of the lepers he healed? Has he taken upon himself the suffering of all humanity? As this Gospel leaves us with many questions worth pondering, why not continue the conversation with God in prayer this week?
*This is the Messianic secrecy motif, a prominent feature in Mark’s Gospel.
The author, Ms. Barbara Gawle, Class of 2001, leads Bible studies at her parish, Incarnation Church of Wethersfield, CT. She is the 2012 recipient of the Biblical School's highest award, the Lawrence Boadt Memorial Medal.
