Jesus and the "Untouchable" Man with Leprosy, the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time–Year B

My Sisters and Brothers:

     In today’s Scripture readings from the Old Testament book of Leviticus (see chapter 13:1-2, 44-46), and from the Gospel of Mark (see chapter 1:40-45), we hear something about the terrible disease of leprosy.  Throughout all of history, most people with leprosy have been nearly completely rejected by their families and their communities, and they’ve been made to live totally apart from everyone.  It’s been thought such people were severely unclean, and they’ve been considered so afflicted because of some type of sinfulness.  People with leprosy have almost always been treated as complete outcasts and this was certainly true in the time of Jesus.

     However, in today’s Gospel we see that Jesus had great compassion for those with leprosy, and that he accepted them with care and love, and that he cured them.  I believe his compassion for people with leprosy was a kind of paradigm for the way in which he treated all of the “needy people” he encountered.  This was especially true for him and regarding those who might have been classified in some way or another as “sinful and stricken.”  Jesus reached out to the sinners, to the sick, to the unfortunate, and to the poor, and he affirmed their human dignity.  Jesus made it clear to others that such people were to be treated as equals within both spiritual and secular communities.

     In the Gospel, Jesus was moved with great pity when the man with leprosy asked him for a cure.  Not only did he cure the man, but in doing so he also reached out and touched him.  – He touched him. –   This part of the story is very significant for us who are Christians.  Jesus could have just made the decision to cure the man, and the healing could have been done without any physical contact.  Let’s remember again that in those days, people who had leprosy were considered to be extremely unclean, impure, and certainly “untouchable.”  The commonly held belief was that if someone touched an impure person, then they themselves would have become defiled as well.  In the Gospel, Jesus actually reached out and touched the man, and he made demonstrable physical contact with someone who was considered to be “untouchable.”  The people who saw this action were surely shocked, amazed, and perhaps even scandalized.

     Why did the Son of God and the Lord of the Universe do this?  I believe it was because he wanted to show others, and to prove without a doubt by his own actions, that our God has unconditional love for each and every one of his children.  For our God, there are no “untouchable people!”

     Reflecting upon this, the questions we might ask ourselves are as follows: “Do we believe that Jesus reaches out to us with love, and that he desires to heal us of our own sins, sicknesses and pains?”  And “are we ourselves able to love, and to reach out to people in our communities, those who might be considered to be unclean, impure and/or untouchable?”

     I hope that each one of us may follow the example of Jesus, and that we can reach out and metaphorically “touch others” who are in most need of our forgiveness, our compassion, our love and our concern.  Let’s each do this with the unconditional love of God, a love with no limits!

Praise God!  Friar Timothy

 

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Moving Beyond Drudgery, Difficulties and Fears, the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time–Year B

My Sisters and Brothers:

      In our first reading today we hear Job say “is not a person’s life on earth a drudgery?” and “my days . . . come to an end without hope” (see Job 7:1-4, 6-7).  He had been a man of wealth and stature, and he had lost it all, including his family, and then he had succumbed to a terrible skin disease.  For this reason, it’s possible that others would have thought that he had leprosy, and this would have made him an outcast and an untouchable.  All the wealth and stature in the world could not buy a respectable place in society for a person with leprosy.  We might certainly understand why he had been tempted to come to such dreadful conclusions.  However, and in spite of all of his difficulties, Job eventually comes to terms with his lot in life.  He recovers his trust in God and actually is strengthened by his experience of loss and suffering.

     It’s interesting that in our Gospel today Simon's mother-in-law is also presented as one who had been nearly ruined because of misfortune and sickness.  Jesus, who had caught the attention of the people in Capernaum because of his preaching and many healing acts, goes to her and heals her.  The Gospel tells us that once she is cured, she gets right up in order to show hospitality to those who had gathered in her house (see Mark 1:29-39).  Perhaps, like Job, she realized the things that really mattered in life were not the difficulties or demands placed on a person, but rather in giving thanks and praise to God in all things.

     How do we do that?  Are we like Job who at first lamented his very existence and then claimed that all his days would come to an end without hope?  Do we say with him that life is nothing but a drudgery?  I can think of many modern reasons why we may be tempted to despair like Job: most obvious at this moment in history is our experience during this pandemic; also there is violence in our world and even on our own streets; our young people are becoming addicted to drugs and to other terrible habits; we must lock our doors behind multiple locks and we still do not feel safe in our own homes; we turn on the television and are bombarded with messages that we really do not want to hear; we walk down the street and we hear small children using vulgar language that we would never dream of using ourselves . . . and the list goes on!  And all of this can tend to make us think that our world is falling apart right before our eyes, and that there is nothing that we can do about it.  So we might be tempted to despair!

     Like Job, and like the mother-in-law of Simon, let us instead move beyond our difficulties and our fears, and may we then come to a knowledge and understanding of God’s power over all things.  As Christians, we believe that Jesus is the Lord of the Universe and that he has authority and dominion over all things.  Let us believe this with all of our minds and hearts.  Through faith, we can conclude, as eventually Job was able to do, that somehow even the difficulties of this life can somehow make us aware of the great presence of God in all things.

     Our faith allows our weakness to give us strength!  It is actually through the trials and challenges of our lives that we are able to grow.  Let us encourage one another with the message of our faith!

Praise God!  Friar Timothy

 

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We've Always Done It That Way, the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time–Year B

My Sisters and Brothers:

     Today’s Gospel tells us that “the people were astonished at Jesus’ teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes of old.”  It also tells us that “the people were amazed and asked one another, what is this, a new teaching?” (See Mark 1:21-28).

     The questions that comes to my mind this week as I reflect on the Scripture readings is: What was this “new teaching,” and what did it truly mean for the disciples of Jesus “to acknowledge the authority of Jesus over all aspects of their lives?”  It seems to me the message and authority of Jesus was not only meant to be “new” in the first century in that small synagogue in that remote little town of Capernaum, but that it must somehow be “renewed” even in our own time and place.  Isn’t it true, that without constant renewal, we can easily become complacent about our values, about our ways of living, about our obligations towards others, and even about our faith?

     Perhaps such was the situation with those “spiritual people” whom Jesus encountered in that synagogue in Capernuam. There is no doubt in my mind that the message and ministry of Jesus was absolutely radical for those people and in that time and place.  In today’s Gospel, Jesus speaks with authority, and then he reaches out to the “possessed man” (i.e., a person in great need), and he brings him back to wholeness and health!  In saying what he said, and in doing what he did, Jesus “broke the rules” and no doubt started a movement that truly could only be understood as a “religious revolution.”

     This fresh new message, and this new way of doing things, especially his radical approach to serving the needy, characterized the entire life and ministry of Jesus.  He constantly preached the Good News of God’s Kingdom for those who needed to hear the message the most, and he always and in many ways, responded to the needs of the poor, the sick, the sinners, “the possessed,” and the outcasts.

     As we reflect on today’s Gospel, might we also consider moving away from any complacency that we have acquired over the years, and might we as well attempt to renew even our contemporary approach to the radical teaching and example of Jesus Christ?   The scribes who are mentioned in our Gospel today were probably fond of saying things like “we have always done it that way, and there is no need to change.”  Unlike those who say such things, even those among us today, may we be like those people in Capernaum who recognized the authority of Jesus, who were astonished and amazed by his teaching, and who then embraced the new way of life he offered to them.

     In our desire to be obedient to the message and ministry of Jesus, may we never become complacent!  As good Catholic Christians, and as we continually strive to be authentically renewed in our faith, may we always enthusiastically serve others, especially those who are most in need!

Praise God!  Friar Timothy

 

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Embarking on the Mission with Enthusiasm, the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time–Year B

My Sisters and Brothers:

     We all know the story of Jonah the prophet.  The longer version of the story includes much more than what we hear in our first reading today (see Jonah 3:1-5, 10).  In fact, the prophet didn’t at all want to go to preach to the people of Nineveh as God had called him to do.  After all, he thought, they were Gentiles, and they were a people unworthy of his attention.  Even when he was successful, and the people of Nineveh listened to his preaching, Jonah was still unhappy!   The people of the city turned away from their sins, reformed their lives and believed in God, but Jonah continued to flee from them.  Perhaps because of Jonah’s pride, he only very reluctantly responded to what God wanted him to do in service to those people.

     The story in today’s Gospel is much different: the disciples of Jesus were much more willing to take up the mission to which they were called.  In fact, as they “dropped their nets” and followed Jesus, he promised that he would make them “fishers of men and women” (see Mark 1:14-20).  They understood that they were being called to lives of service–lives in which the preaching of the Good News of the Kingdom to all people would be a primary responsibility.  This preaching, and the call to conversion, would be for all men and women of every nation on earth!

     Unlike Jonah, the disciples became joyfully zealous for their mission, and they were freely willing to serve all of their fellow human beings.  They even reached out to those whom they possibly would have otherwise preferred not to have served, such as the Gentiles, the Samaritans and other foreigners.  Like Jesus, the disciples enthusiastically embarked on their mission to reach out with love towards all, even to tax-collectors, to prostitutes, and to other sinners.

     Today, as we reflect on our Scripture readings, let us pray that we might be more like the disciples of Jesus who surrendered all, even the comfort of their own families, their ways of life, and their traditional ways of thinking about others–especially about those who were “different,” and about those who came from other faith perspectives.

     Following Jesus is all about giving witness to our faith, and  it is about serving a God who loves each one of us “more than we can ever possibly imagine.”   May we each faithfully share this message by the way we respond to Jesus, by the way we live our lives, and by the way we treat all of our fellow human beings.

Praise God!  Friar Timothy

 

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At the Grave Side

I've come to the cemetery for a funeral this morning; now, after having just concluded a grave-side service, I'm sitting in a wonderfully warmed car. It's freezing cold out there and a gentle snow is falling.

From the warmth of my present situation, I am reflecting on life and death. Earlier, when we were slowly driving in procession to the grave site, I was, and even now am, keenly aware of the many familiar surnames that are emblazoned on the head stones here: Dougherty, Johnson, Winterling, Rivera, Miller, Newton, Kowalski, Duffy, Benz, Lang, Santos, Schmidt, Hunt, and so many others. People I have known have held these names.

And the names on these stones, memorials to real people from so many families, remind me of so many others who have also departed from this life and who have gone on to the next. I have known some who were very young when they died, and others who had lived very long lives, but every one of them were human beings who were greatly loved and therefore were so very mournfully lost!

And yet, somehow I still have hope. Although death seems so final, I know that love never ends.

O Lord, grant that our sisters and brothers may sleep here in peace until you awaken them to glory, for you are the resurrection and the life. Amen. Praise God!  Friar Timothy

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Answering the Call, the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time–Year B

My Sisters and Brothers:

     From a faith perspective, how do we understand and know what our “calling” is in this life?  Isn’t it true that each one of us has some type of special “calling” or “vocation”?   Most of us clearly believe that we are called by God to live out our lives in a certain manner or by following a particular path.  We all want to do this to the best of our potential and according to whatever gifts and talents we have received and have cultivated.

     Some of us had a clear understanding of what we hoped to do and be in this life from an early age; others among us (probably most of us) labored a bit more with the discernment process; we might have even passed a few “bumps in the road” on the journey!   In any case, at least from a Christian perspective, our calling or vocation can be understood as our personal role and responsibility towards both God and our fellow human beings in whatever capacity we have in helping to build the Kingdom of God on earth.

     Like Samuel in the first reading today, we may not at first recognize the voice of God when he calls us to a task; our discernment process might have to be guided by those around us who are a bit more wiser and more experienced than we are (see 1 Sam 3:3b-10, 19).  Sometimes the wise people who guide us may do so in a dramatic way, like in the case of John the Baptist who clearly directed his disciples to follow the Lord Jesus.  He said: “Behold, the Lamb of God” and then “the two disciples . . . followed Jesus” (see John 1:35-42).  It was as simple as that: John proclaimed and the disciples followed.

     Most of the time, however, I think the average man or woman isn’t so fortunate to have a John the Baptist kind of person guiding them in their lives.  Most of us simply try our best to pray and discern, we make mistakes and then try again, and we change directions and occasionally doubt our choices, etc., etc.  This is normal!  And so today, as we contemplate the response to vocation presented to us in the Scripture readings, let us reflect upon our own experience in doing that.

     May we persevere like Samuel and keep trying our best to answer the call, even when we are not sure of the outcome; may we also hope to be like the disciples in the Gospel who confidently come to the conclusion and belief that they have “found the Messiah.”  In any event, let us have complete confidence that God will show us the way, and that each one of us may come to know what we are called to do (both in the small and in the great things in our lives).  May we discern well, my friends!

Praise God!  Friar Timothy

 

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The Baptism of the Lord, 2015

My Sisters and Brothers:

     Today we celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, and so we recall that moment when “Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan” (see Mark1:7-11).  Jesus the human being chose to be baptized because he was very much “one of us.”

     We may on this day reflect upon the significance of our own baptisms as we each do our best to live our Christian lives!  Of course we hope to do that with fidelity to the message and the example of Jesus himself.

     We may ask ourselves, “do our own baptisms effect the way that we live our Christian lives in this world?”  We may also ask ourselves “how do our baptisms connect us to the rest of the human community – especially to our Christian community?”   I believe that some rather crucial obligations are placed on each one of us because we are baptized followers of Jesus Christ!

     In the first reading today, the prophet Isaiah tells us that the children of God are called to “open the eyes of the blind, to bring prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon those who live in darkness” (see Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7). Jesus understood this calling and he constantly modeled for us how to serve others while serving God!  Unfortunately, we know that many people in our world continue to be enslaved by sin and darkness.  Today, the words of Isaiah continue to challenge us (and he composed his thoughts at least twenty-five hundred years ago).

     I believe that many people in our own time continue to be enslaved by sin and darkness because they have failed to understand and/or accept the idea that none of us can live without the constant care, love and support of others.  Most of us understand that we very much need to exist within a community of people and that “no person is an island.”  My experience tells me that if a person chooses to live an isolated and highly individualistic life, then he or she will likely lose any sense of responsibility for others, even members of their own families and/or their communities.  Our baptisms, something we each share with the Lord Jesus Christ, calls us to be people who are very much connected to the rest of the human community, and of course, this must start “at home.”

     As those who are baptized, each one of us have great and important responsibilities toward the others around us!  This means that, if we are to be faithful to our Christian calling, then we must always strive to be positive forces in our local and extended communities.  We must help those in need; we must answer the cries of the poor and the afflicted; we must help our sisters and brothers who are addicted to drugs and alcohol and we must aid those who are afflicted with disease (just to name few things!).  I don’t believe we will be able to do these things well if we fail to understand that we, as human beings, and as followers of the Lord Jesus, are profoundly connected to one another.

     If we are faithful to the challenge of our baptisms, then like Jesus in today’s Gospel, we will be told by our Father in heaven that we are his beloved children and that with us he is “well pleased.”  May we encourage one another with the baptismal faith we each strive to put into action!

Praise God!  Friar Timothy

 

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