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First reading Leviticus 13:1-2,44-46
The unclean man must live outside the camp
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ‘If a swelling or scab or shiny spot appears on a man’s skin, a case of leprosy of the skin is to be suspected. The man must be taken to Aaron, the priest, or to one of the priests who are his sons.
‘The man is leprous: he is unclean. The priest must declare him unclean; he is suffering from leprosy of the head. A man infected with leprosy must wear his clothing torn and his hair disordered; he must shield his upper lip and cry, “Unclean, unclean.” As long as the disease lasts he must be unclean; and therefore he must live apart: he must live outside the camp.’
Responsorial Psalm 31(32):1-2,5,11
You are my refuge, O Lord; you fill me with the joy of salvation.
Happy the man whose offence is forgiven,
whose sin is remitted.
O happy the man to whom the Lord
imputes no guilt,
in whose spirit is no guile.
But now I have acknowledged my sins;
my guilt I did not hide.
I said: ‘I will confess
my offence to the Lord.’
And you, Lord, have forgiven
the guilt of my sin.
Rejoice, rejoice in the Lord,
exult, you just!
O come, ring out your joy,
all you upright of heart.
Second reading 1 Corinthians 10:31-11:1
Take me for your model, as I take Christ
Whatever you eat, whatever you drink, whatever you do at all, do it for the glory of God. Never do anything offensive to anyone – to Jews or Greeks or to the Church of God; just as I try to be helpful to everyone at all times, not anxious for my own advantage but for the advantage of everybody else, so that they may be saved. Take me for your model, as I take Christ.
Gospel Mark 1:40-45
The leprosy left the man at once, and he was cured
A leper came to Jesus and pleaded on his knees: ‘If you want to’ he said ‘you can cure me.’ Feeling sorry for him, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him. ‘Of course I want to!’ he said. ‘Be cured!’ And the leprosy left him at once and he was cured. Jesus immediately sent him away and sternly ordered him, ‘Mind you say nothing to anyone, but go and show yourself to the priest, and make the offering for your healing prescribed by Moses as evidence of your recovery.’ The man went away, but then started talking about it freely and telling the story everywhere, so that Jesus could no longer go openly into any town, but had to stay outside in places where nobody lived. Even so, people from all around would come to him.
Reflection
THE leper is welcomed back into the community, while Jesus is forced to take the place once occupied by the leper. Mark tells us that “Jesus was no longer able to go openly into a town, but has to stay outside in the uninhabited countryside’.
Mark is telling us that the only real compassion is that which is willing to share the condition of the oppressed. You cannot help me unless you are willing to sit with me and share my pain and my shame. You can heal me only if you love me enough to be with me whatever my condition. There is no other way.
Who of us does not need healing? Who of us does not know the feeling of being alone, isolated from others, a ‘leper’ and an outcast? Firstly, we must ask ourselves do we really want to be healed? And secondly, can we, like this simple man, dare to approach Jesus and say to him: ‘If you want to, you can cleanse me’, believing that he does want to and will not fail to hear our cry?
This is not to say that we will necessarily obtain the healing that we think we need. But we can be certain that God who knows us will grace us with whatever healing will release us to be more closely united to God’s Son, Jesus, and more able to love. To know that is enough.
So let us, like children, dare to ask for whatever we desire, so long as we do so trusting that God knows best what is good for us.
Fr Michael Fallon msc
