1st Reading Leviticus 13: 1-2, 44-46
Psalm 32: 1-2. 5. 11 (R. 7)
2nd Reading 1 Corinthians 10: 31-11: 1
Gospel Mark 1: 40-45
GOD'S COMPASSION IS TIMES OF HOPELESSNESS
Dear friends, today, the 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time brings the first part of the Season of Ordinary Time to a close as we prepare to enter the penitential seaon of Lent starting with Ash Wednesday. In the first part of Ordinary Time, we have been dealing with problems of life for which we can, among the many readings, recall Job's issue. This Sunday comes with yet another challenge in life — neglect.
The first reading from Leviticus 13:1-2, 44-46 speaks to us about the case of leprosy. We must understand that this is a very important issue in the Old Testament and forms part of the Legal Purity Code (Lev. 11- 16), laws regarding purity. These laws are to remind the Israelites that they should always keep themselves in a state of ritual purity, or external sanctity, as a sign of their intimate union with God. We must also understand that the importance attached to holiness in the Old Testament is stressed in the fact that out of the 613 commandments identified throughout the Torah (Genesis-Deuteronomy), 247 occur in the book of Leviticus reiterating the fact that Leviticus is book that Jews will never joke with in living their lives in union with God and neighbour. The core of the book is: "you shall be holy, because I, the Lord, am Holy" (Lev. 11: 45).
For the Jew, leprosy can corrupt even those who have not been infected. The issue we have to grapple with first is what really constitutes LEPROSY. What is described as leprosy in the first reading is not what we see today of a leper.
The text uses the Hebrew word TSÂRA'ATH to describe the situation of a mark, swelling, an eruption, or a spot that disfigures the skin. The same word is used to describe an infection on clothing (Lev. 13: 47) and house (Lev. 14: 33-57). Persons or objects afflicted with leprosy can pollute others. Aside from it being a physical and medical condition, it is believed to be a punishment from God, as in the case of Uzziah (1 Chronicles 26: 19). It is the duty of the priest to declare that a person, a fabric, or a house has that infection.
Right from the first reading, we observe that the issue of rejection is very clear. First, it is the priest who declares. The leper, the infected person, is rejected and treated as an outcast by the very person who is to help him recover. The priest declares Leprosy. The priest proclaims the infection and begins the process of rejection. The same can be said of situations today. Where first help is to be given, surprisingly, that is where we often do not receive one. This is a problem of life. Where you think getting help is obvious, it turns out that it is not found there. The reality of the situation is only diagnosed with no remedy for the infected person.
The priest is not only a religious person, but that shepherd who leads the flock. In Israel, priests, prophets, and kings are the principal leaders. The implication is that a leader is not able to help a follower to reconnect and recover. That even speaks to leadership today. Having the sole right to diagnose a problem of life is not enough. A leader ought not leave the situation unattended to. He must act to help others gain freedom.
The situation gets worse when the Leper is to "dwell alone in a habitation outside the camp" (Lev. 13: 46). While this is done to ensure that no one is infected, it shows how rejection can be done on a social level. Imagining the situation, the leper would barely feel the love of humans. He is left unattended to. I believe that he would live on the charity of others because we will not be able to work. Society can reject and neglect us in times of trouble.
Additionally, the leper is to "wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang lose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry, 'Unclean, unclean'" (Lev. 13: 45). This is very interesting because such garments and his outlook portray a man who is dead (Lev. 10: 6). In fact, it is only a dead man who is taken out of a community. If the leper portrays himself as a dead man, then it is only the case that he cannot be among the living.
The leper is rejected by his own leaders, then by his own people, thus his friends and family, and is even made to reject himself by showing himself to be a dead man.
However, as humans reject us, God looks at us with compassion. God ever and always stretches his hand and touches us, and offers us restoration. It is exactly what Christ did to the leper in the Gospel today.
It is interesting to see the kind of compassion Christ had on the man. We can resort to Exodus 34: 6 to understand what compassion or pity means. In Exodus 34: 6, God declares himself as a God of compassion. The Hebrew word used there is RECHEM. Interestingly, the same word is used to refer to a mother's womb. What we know of a mother's womb is that it is the place of new birth or new life. What Jesus is doing to this leper by having pity or compassion on him is to offer him a mother's womb. A man who is declared dead by his outlook, his offered a new life. This is what God offers us when all hope is lost.
When all hope is gone, when we are written off by all, we can still rely on the compassion of God because his compassion offers us life, a new hope.
May God renew us and give us hope where all hope is lost.
Pax et Bonum
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