7TH JANUARY 2022
Reach Out and Cure like Jesus
1 Jn 5:5-13, Psms 147, Luke 5:12-16
• In today’s Gospel we see a leper who came close to Jesus. He had to live far away from others, because whoever touched him remained impure! But that leper had great courage. He transgressed the norms of religion so as to be able to get close to Jesus. He said, “Sir, if You want, You can heal me!” That is to say, “It is not necessary for You to touch me.” It is sufficient for the Lord to want it, and He cured him!
• The sentence reveals two evils:
i. the evil of leprosy which renders him impure; ii. the evil of isolation, to which he was condemned by society and by religion.
This also reveals the man’s great faith in the power of Jesus. Jesus, profoundly moved, heals him from both evils! In the first place, to cure the isolation, He touches the leper. It is as if He said, “For Me you are not excluded. I accept you as a brother!” And then He cures the leper saying, "I do will it. Be made clean."
• The leper, in order to be able to enter in contact with Jesus, had transgressed the norms of the law. Jesus also, in order to be able to help that excluded man and reveal to him a new face of God, transgresses the norms of His religion and touches the leper. At that time, whoever touched a leper became impure according to the religious authority and by the law of the time.
• Jesus, not only cures, but also wants the cured person to be able to live with others. He once again inserts the person in society so that he can live together with others. At that time for a leper to be accepted again in the community, he needed a certificate from a priest, that he had been cured. It is the same today. The sick person leaves the hospital having a document signed by the doctor. Jesus obliges the person to go and look for the document, so that he can live normally with the others; “Go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed.”
• Out of this this episode; may each one of us ask the following questions;
1. In order to help the neighbour, Jesus transgresses the law of purity. In the Church today, are there any laws which render difficult or prevent the practice of love toward neighbour?
2. In order to be cured, the leper had the courage to challenge the public opinion of his time. Do I have such courage?
3. Do I treat the needy as a leper?. Do I reach out and hold, or do I pretend they aren't there?
4. Jesus gave what the leper needed, not a donation or some money. When I am asked for help, do I take the time to give the help that is needed to “cure” the problem?
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