Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Fr Dominic’s Homily

This Wednesday is Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. It’s a time when we can think about giving something up or taking something up in order to mortify ourselves a little on the run up to Easter.

Bishop Declan reminds us that Pope Francis recommends giving up gossip and slander within the parish and community and family life for lent as it can be so damaging. And instead maybe read a small passage of scripture every day.

This enables us to open the door of our hearts to God’s grace and listen to what he wants to tell us rather than listening to voices that can be unhealthy, detrimental and cause separation in our community.

Today we hear about a man who lives in separation who approaches Jesus with some kind of skin disease, possibly leprosy, who kneels down in front of Jesus in a form of worship and humbly asks for his healing. Jesus has only just begun his ministry and yet here is a man who already has faith in what he can do for him. He sees divinity in Jesus.

Jesus of course wants to heal the man. That is why he has come into the world. To heal and restore what is broken. He sees the man’s faith and he also sees the man’s suffering. He stretches out his hand and touches the man and as is always the case in Marks Gospel things happen immediately. The man is healed instantaneously because Jesus has complete power over sickness, suffering and death.

He tells the man not to tell anyone what has happened and of course we hear that the man tells everyone. Was Jesus using a reverse psychology hoping that the man would spread this story? No. Jesus always says what he means.

He also tells the man that he must go and see the priest and make the necessary sacrifice as prescribed by the law. The Priests knew the signs of healing and also as was part of the law would suggest what sacrifice you had to make to God in thanksgiving for a healing.

Then the priest could return the man to his community and family and allow worship in the temple to resume.

You see illness of this type caused more suffering in the division it caused in the family and community and parish rather than the actual pain of the condition itself. The person was ousted and had to live alone.

All the readings today follow the theme of a sickness of this kind being similar to a spiritual disconnection from God and the community. It is through the priest that spiritual harmony is restored allowing full reintegration with the community and the church again.

In the psalm we hear about the joy associated with the forgiveness of our sins. We are restored with right relationship in God once again and are healed.

You might ask why Jesus had to touch the man. Remember he simply called and Lazarus rose from the dead. Well we know nothing about his man. Maybe he was married with children whom he was separated from. But through touching the man he feels the pain of his isolation.

Jesus comes to re-join and restore a close relationship between humanity and divinity which he demonstrates in this way of healing.

We see that Jesus blatantly breaks the law of purity which is the law that says you are ritually defiled if are contaminated with severe illness or death. Why? Because he always respects human life. He breaks laws that inhibit the health and life of people. Laws were made for man not man for laws.

So we see a curious sequence of events. First Jesus breaks the ritual laws of purity, then once the man has been healed he is told to obey the law of the Torah associated with the priest and his healing yet he then breaks the law of Jesus when he is commanded to be silent.

And then finally Jesus himself is segregated from the community as a result of all this. He has to go to places where nobody lives. So in a way he actually swaps roles with the leper.

However the difference is that wherever Jesus goes he brings fruitfulness and healing both spiritually and physically.

When he encounters and touches people who are ill instead of the illness contaminating and entering him - purity and healing flow from him into the people.

So let us always kneel before the Lord, recognising his divinity and ask that his spiritual and physical healing may restore us to the fullness of the people that he created us to be from all eternity.