In Jesus’ time when people were seen as infected, they
were really isolated from the community. No one would care for them, no matter
how sick they were. They were seen to be unclean. In fact, that had to walk around with a bell and continually
shout, “Unclean, Unclean.” By unclean they meant more than dirty. For the
ancients, unclean meant “possessed by evil.” So these poor people with one of
the many diseases included in the category of leprosy, were forced to live
completely isolated from society, with no one to care for them, hoping that
some kind people would leave them food or even some garbage for them to go
through. If they walked from one place to another, they had to call out
“Unclean,” not just so people could avoid them, but so the people could be
protected from the evil that must have done this to them[1].
And then Jesus came. He cured lepers. He did not see
people who were unclean. He did not fear the power of evil. He saw people who
were suffering the result of evil. For that is what all suffering is, the
result of evil. He saw them, cared for them, and healed them. They would not
have to go around calling out, “Unclean” anymore.
There are times that we also feel unclean. And I don’t
mean unclean because we need to take a shower. I mean unclean because we know
that we have fallen for the attack of evil. And we see our parents, friends, or other people we love,
and feel so rotten about ourselves that we really don’t even want to talk to them. “They are good,” we realize, and then
we ask, “What if they were to know what I have done?” Or we walk into Church and see so many people trying to be
their best, and we don’t feel that we belong among them. There are times that
all of us want to call out to others, “Unclean, Unclean, stay away from me.”
Like the leper in the Gospel reading, we don’t have to
remain unclean. Jesus healed the leper! He saved him from the grips of evil. We
come before the Lord, particularly in the sacrament of reconciliation,
confession, and he doesn’t see our sin.
He sees us as someone He loves who is hurting. And He heals us.
He saves us from the grips of evil. We talk a lot about salvation in the
Church. It might seem to be a theological term, that doesn’t relate to us. But
then we fall, and we are caught by the Lord. He heals us. We realize that we
have been saved. That is salvation!
There are people we know who are convinced that they
are unclean. They may be involved in drugs, alcohol, sex or in other ways have
merited a pretty bad reputation. Some of them decide to live the role assigned
to them by their immediate society and go out of their way to seem to be even
worse then they really are. Or
they transfer their guilt onto other people continually making others feel like
the scum of the earth, when, in fact, that is how they feel about
themselves. Let’s be nice to them,
let’s be kind to them! Don’t think of them as despicable. Jesus never treated
people that way. Let’s pray for
them and, perhaps, by the grace of God, they also will come before Jesus and
seek to be made clean.
What a horrible thing it is to go through life feeling
unclean. What a wonderful thing it
is to know that with Jesus Christ, none of us are unclean. In fact, we are more
than not unclean. With Jesus Christ we are all beautiful! ■
[1]
6th Sunday of Ordinary Time B, February 15, 2015; Readings: Leviticus 13:1-2,
44-46; Responsorial Psalm 32:1-2, 5, 11; 1 Corinthians 10:31-11:1; Mark
1:40-45.
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