常年期第六主日Mk 1:40-45
We have just heard in today’s gospel the story of the cure of a leper. Did you notice as we were listening to it that the account of the cure was itself really quite brief, and that the conversation with Jesus after it was the main focus of the gospel. This makes us wonder whether the point of this story was to tell us about a leper, or to tell us something about Jesus. After all, the story comes in the opening chapter of the gospel. It creates a picture of who Jesus is, and what he is about, and we will see this picture developed as we listen to Mark’s gospel throughout this year.
So let’s look at what this gospel is telling us. At one level the leper is the centre of attention, probably because he is bold enough to break through the boundary that isolates him from the community and to approach Jesus. We need to remember that those who suffered from these types of skin disease, as we heard in our first reading, we required to stay apart from the community. This was not only for their own protection, but also to help prevent further infections in the community. After all, there weren’t the medicines and hospitals that we are used to that would treat these types of diseases. The consequence was that a leper was totally isolated from others. Just think what impact this must have had on them. I imagine that this leper was probably a young man, say in his 20s, who normally would have had his whole life ahead of him, full of possibility. Suddenly he is struck with this disease, and all that potential dissolves. What could have been a flourishing human life soon begins to wither. So we are dealing here with more than a physical disease. We are also dealing with human isolation and exclusion. We are seeing the alienation and diminishment of the human spirit. Even contact with God, and therefore with the source of spiritual nourishment and flourishing, is no longer possible. What’s more, there is no sense that this young man has done anything wrong to deserve this.
His words to Jesus seem a bit strange. He says, ‘if you want to, you can cure me’. You can imagine Jesus getting a bit angry at this sort of approach. So he re-affirms that he does truly want to heal. We see here the great desire of Jesus for human flourishing. We see Jesus demonstrate that human flourishing involves being re-connected with God and with the community. This is why he tells him to go to the priests so that his cure can be authenticated. In order that people fully comprehend his attitude Jesus not only speaks to the leper, but he touches him. Think of what this means! Jesus himself has crossed a boundary; he has touched a leper; he has exposed himself to the disease of the leper. Here we see in startling fashion Jesus’ solidarity with human beings and their predicament.
This is an important revelation about God. If we want to better know God then we need to ponder what we have just heard in this gospel. The crowds wonder at the power of God, but God’s power and authority have been manifest very differently to how they would have expected. God seems to embrace the vulnerability of the human condition in order to stand in solidarity with human beings. God’s power doesn’t work like magic, simply making it all better. The healing of human beings is more complex than that. We also need to take account of what happens to Jesus. In a somewhat suggestive way we are told that he can no longer move about and preach in the towns and villages. I suppose we can wonder if this is because he too has become ritually unclean. We will see this theme develop throughout Mark’s gospel as we listen to it during this year. The ultimate exclusion and alienation of Jesus will be seen as he dies outside the city on a cross. Already, at the beginning of the gospel, we can see that it will happen. Jesus warns the leper not to speak about the cure because he knows that it will be hard for people to face this image of God – the God who suffers and dies because he stands in solidarity with human alienation.
I wonder what this gospel, with its picture of the leper and of Jesus, might say to us today. I would like to direct my reflections on this particularly to young people, but I am sure that we will all be able to make the connection with our own lives, whatever our age. Youth is a time of great hope and yearning. It is when people begin to put in place those things that will help them realise their dreams and shape a life where they can flourish. Precisely because of this it is also a time of exploration and questioning, when lots of options are considered. It is a time when people sort out their own identity. This means that it can also be a time of vulnerability, and sometimes even alienation and fear. I believe that the gospel message today invites you to have the courage of the leper and to approach Jesus. What will Jesus offer? I hope we all know that life is far too complex for us to expect Jesus to offer some ready-made answer, as though he is going to relieve us of our freedom and responsibility for our own lives. However, in drawing close to him, and watching him closely you can be invited to reflect on his experience of isolation and alienation, and on his trust of God his Father through all of this. Ultimately, you are called to have the same sort of faith that the leper had. It is a faith that trusts God, a faith that is patient with God, confident that God will look favourably on you.
Fr. Gerard Kelly
