Readings: Lv. 13:1-2, 44-46; 1 Cor. 10:31-11:1; Mk. 1:40-45
No One Has Ever Loved Me Like You Do.
1. Imagine being in a dire situation, desperately waiting for assistance. And then someone comes around, gives you a helping hand and changed your lot for good. He provided for you and made sure that you will never again be in want. What would you say to that person? I guess you would say “Thank you so much. No one has ever showed me love like you do.”
2. The first reading described the deplorable condition of lepers. “If someone has on his skin a scab or pustule or blotch which appears to be the sore of leprosy, he shall be brought to Aaron, the priest.” (Lv.13:1). According to Fr. Robinson, “Without the sophistication of modern medicine, the term “leprosy” was applied to almost any kind of skin disease: such as ringworm, psoriasis, eczema, and leprosy itself. Anyone so afflicted with such diseases was required to avoid contact with anyone else lest the disease spread to the whole community. A ‘leper’ could not work, go to synagogue or temple, or visit his or her family. Usually a ‘leper’ ended up living in caves or tombs alone or in a colony with other lepers.” It was the duty of the priest to declare a leper unclean. Such a person was then cast out of the community.
3. The leper in today’s gospel knew his dire and deplorable situation. He knew that he was not to come out in public or come near anyone, even Jesus. He dared it all the same. He had no other option than Jesus who says, “I am the way the truth and the life.” (Jn.14:6) Again, “Come to me all who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Mt. 11:28). He was courageous, bold and hopeful. He must have heard about Jesus; that he was compassionate, kind, merciful and caring. He approached Jesus, went on his knees and made his request. “If you wish, you can make me clean.” (Mk. 1:40). His prayer was simple. He surrendered himself and entrusted his sickness into the hands of Jesus. His faith was in God; he was hopeful that “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted, he saves those whose spirit is crushed.” (Ps. 34:18-19). Because “Those who trust in the Lord are like mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever.” (Ps. 125:1). His prayer was the prayer of Jesus, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet, not as I will, but as you will.” (Mt. 26:39). This is how Jesus taught us to pray: “Your will be done on earth as is in heaven.” (Mt.6:10).
4. There are two instances that stand out for me in the bible, among many others, that Jesus touched and transformed people and left them speechless. The first is the woman caught in the act of committing adultery. She was condemned to death; her accusers were waiting with stones in their hands. The law of Moses commanded it, and they were ready to obey. But Jesus uttered those magic words “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw stone at her.” (Jn. 8:7). With that, the woman was brought back to life from the brink of death. She was grateful to Jesus and praised him with every fiber of her being. Oh “No one has ever loved me like you do.”
5. The second is the leper in today’s gospel. We heard the prayer of the leper and also heard those magic words again from the lips of Jesus: “I do will it. Be made clean.” (Mk. 1:41). And “The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean.” (Mk. 1:42). Then Jesus warned him sternly, ‘see that you tell no one anything, but go, show yourself to the priest.’ Jesus rescued the leper from isolation, disgrace, pains, distress, rejection and emptiness. Mark Links captured the situation thus: “The leper’s life was a living hell. People hated the sight of him, and he, in turn, hated the sight of himself.” The Psalmist describes his wretched condition. “Those who know me are afraid of me; when they see me in the street, they run away…I am like something thrown away.” (Ps. 31:11-12). But the Lord removed from his mouth, the words we heard from Job last week, “I shall not see happiness again.” (Job 7:7). Instead, the leper would say “I waited, waited for the Lord, who bent down and heard my cry. He drew me out of the pit of destruction, out of the mud of the swamp, set my feet upon rock, steadied my steps.” (Ps.40:1-4). I can imagine the leper, now made clean, saying “No one has ever loved me as you do.”
6. Today is Valentine’ day, technically called, lovers’ day. Jesus is the one lover we all need, who will never disappoint us. We are fragile people living in a broken world. But like St. Paul in the second reading, we know that “We are often troubled, but not crushed; sometimes in doubt, but never in despair…and though badly hurt at times, we are not destroyed…For this reason we never become discouraged.” (2Cor. 4:8-9,16). We seek to fall in love with a lover who loves us more than anyone else. We are lepers excluded from the community because of our sins. We must show ourselves to the priest in the sacrament of reconciliation so that he may restore us to wholeness and reconcile us to God and to one another. God bless you!
Rev. Augustine
Etemma Inwang, MSP
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