Jesus heals a leper. Reintroducing the marginalized into human society.

Mark 1:40-45

1. Opening prayer

Lord Jesus, send Your Spirit to help us to read the Scriptures with the same mind that You read them to the disciples on the way to Emmaus. In the light of the Word, written in the Bible, You helped them to discover the presence of God in the disturbing events of Your sentence and death. Thus, the cross that seemed to be the end of all hope became for them the source of life and of resurrection.

Create in us silence so that we may listen to Your voice in creation and in the scriptures, in events and in people, above all in the poor and suffering. May Your word guide us so that we, too, like the two disciples on the way to Emmaus, may experience the force of Your resurrection and witness to others that You are alive in our midst as source of fraternity, justice and peace. We ask this of You, Jesus, Son of Mary, who revealed the Father to us and sent us Your Spirit. Amen.

2. Reading

a) A key to the reading:

The Gospel of this sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time tells us how Jesus receives a leper. In those days, lepers were the most excluded people of society, avoided by all. Lepers could not take part in anything. In olden days, the lack of effective medicines, the fear of contagion and the necessity of defending the life of society led people to isolate and exclude lepers. Besides, among the people of God whose defense of the gift of life was one of the most sacred duties, they thought that the exclusion of lepers was a divine duty because it was the only way to defend the community from deadly contagion. Thus, in Israel, the leper felt impure and excluded not only by society, but even by God (cf. Lev 14:1-32). Gradually, however, as better remedies came to light and, above all,  thanks to the deep experience communicated to us by Jesus concerning God our Father, lepers began to be accepted and reintegrated as brothers and sisters in human society.

In spite of two thousand years of Christianity, the exclusion and marginalization of some categories of people goes on even today, whether in society or in the Church. For instance, those suffering from AIDS, migrants, homosexuals, divorced persons, etc. Today, in your society and in the Church, what are the categories of excluded and avoided people? With these questions in mind, let us read and meditate on the Gospel for this Sunday.

b) A division of the text as a help to our reading:

Mark 1:40: The state of abandonment and exclusion of a leper

Mark 1:41-42: Jesus welcomes and heals the leper

Mark 1:43-44: Reintroducing those excluded into fraternal society

Mark 1:45: The leper proclaims the good Jesus did to him, and Jesus becomes an excluded person

c) Text:

A leper came to Jesus and kneeling down begged Him and said, "If you wish, you can make me clean." Moved with pity, he stretched out His hand, touched him, and said to him, "I do will it. Be made clean." The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean. Then, warning the him sternly, He dismissed him at once. He said to him, "See that you tell no one anything, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them." The man went away and began to publicize the whole matter. He spread the report abroad so that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly. He remained outside in deserted places, and people kept coming to Him from everywhere.

3. A moment of prayerful silence

so that the Word of God may penetrate and enlighten our life.

4. Some questions

to help us in our personal reflection.

a) What did you like best and what touched you most in this text? Why?

b) How does this text express the exclusion of lepers?

c) How does Jesus welcome, heal and reinstate the leper? Try to observe each detail carefully.

d) How can we, today, imitate Jesus’ attitude towards those excluded?

5. For those who wish to go deeper into the theme

A) The context of then and of today:

Whether in the 70’s, when Mark was writing, or today in our times, it was and still is very important to hold to some criteria or models to know how to live and proclaim the Good News of God and how to carry out our mission as Christians. In verses 16 to 45 of the first chapter of Mark, in gathering together eight episodes, describes how Jesus proclaimed the Good News. Each episode contains the criterion for the community of His time, so that people then could examine their own mission. This Sunday’s text makes concrete the eighth criterion: reinstating those excluded. Here is the overall scheme to clarify what follows:

TEXT

ACTIVITIES OF JESUS

AIM OF THE GOOD NEWS

Mark 1:16-20

Jesus calls His first disciples

forming community

Mark 1:21-22

The people are amazed at His teaching

creating a critical conscience

Mark 1:23-28

Jesus drives out an evil spirit

fighting against the power of evil

Mark 1:29-31

The healing of Peter’s mother-in-law

restoring life through service

Mark 1:32-34

The healing of the sick and those possessed by devils

welcoming the marginalized

Mark 1:35

Jesus gets up to pray while it is still dark

staying united with the Father

Mark 1:36-39

Jesus goes on proclaiming the Good News

not allowing results to stop us

Mark 1:40-45

Jesus heals a leper

reinstating those excluded

b) A commentary on the text:

Mark 1:40: The state of abandonment and exclusion of a leper

A leper approaches Jesus. He was an excluded man, impure! He was to be sent away from human society. Anyone who came close to him would also be impure. But the leper had much courage. He broke the rules of religion so as to approach Jesus. He says, “If You are willing, You can cleanse me!” In other words, “There is no need for You to touch me! If You are just willing that is enough to heal me!” This sentence reveals two evils: 1) the evil of the disease called leprosy that made him impure; 2) the evil of solitude to which he was condemned by society and religion. It also reveals the great faith people had in the power of Jesus.

Mark 1:41-42: By receiving and healing the leper, Jesus reveals a new face of God

Deeply compassionate, Jesus heals both evils. Firstly, to heal the evil of solitude, He touches the leper. It is as though He says to him, "For Me you are not an outcast. I welcome you as a brother!" Secondly, He heals the disease called leprosy, saying, “I am willing. Be cleansed!” In order to come into contact with Jesus, the leper had broken the rules of the law. For Jesus to be able to help this excluded one and thus reveal a new face of God, He breaks the laws of His religion and touches the leper. In those days, anyone who touched a leper became impure in the sight of the religious authorities and before the law of that time.

Mark 1:43-44: Reinstating those excluded into fraternal life

Not only does Jesus heal, but He wills that the healed person be able to live with others. Reinstating a person to society. In those days, for a leper to be received within the community, he or she had to have a declaration of healing from a priest. Thus it was written in the law concerning the purification of a leper (Lev 14:1-32). This still happens today. The sick person leaves the hospital with a letter signed by the doctor of a particular section. Jesus obliges the leper to get the document from the competent authority so that he may be reinstated into normal society. He is thus obliging the authorities to confirm that the man has been healed.

Mark 1:45: The leper proclaims the good that Jesus worked for him and Jesus becomes excluded.

Jesus had forbidden the leper from speaking of his healing. But the leper did speak. The leper started freely proclaiming the story everywhere, so that Jesus could no longer go openly into any town, but stayed away in desert places. Why did Jesus stay away in desert places? Jesus had touched the leper. Thus, according to opinion in those days, now He was impure and had to live away from all. He could not enter any city. But Mark implies that people did not much care about official rules, because people from all around kept coming to Him! A complete turn around!

The double news that Mark conveys to the communities of his time and to all of us is this: 1) that proclaiming the Good News means witnessing to the concrete experience that one has of Jesus. What does the leper proclaim? He proclaims to others the good that Jesus did to him. That’s all! And it is precisely this witness that drives others to accept the Good News that Jesus proclaims. Anyone who has no experience of Jesus will have little to proclaim to others. 2) To take the Good News to others one need not fear breaking religious rules that are contrary to God’s plan and that render communication, dialogue and a life of love difficult, even if such an attitude may create difficulties for people as it did for Jesus!

c) Further information:

The eight criteria for evaluating the mission of the Community

A double slavery marked the situation of people at the time of Jesus: the slavery of the official religion, upheld by the religious authorities of the time, and the slavery of Herod’s politics, upheld by the Roman Empire and supported by the whole organized system of exploitation and repression. Because of all this, many of the people were excluded by religion and by society: the very contrary of the fraternity that God dreamt of for all! And it is precisely in this context that Jesus begins to carry out His mission of proclaiming the Good News of God.

This Sunday’s Gospel is part of a broader literary unit (Mk 1:16-45). Apart from the description of the preparation of the Good News (Mk 1:1-13) and of the proclamation (Mk 1:14-15), Mark brings together eight activities of Jesus to describe His mission of proclamation of the Good News and to describe how the mission of the community should be (Mk 1:16-45). This is the same mission that Jesus received from the Father (Jn 20:21). Mark puts together these episodes, which were passed on orally in the communities, and links them together like old bricks in a new wall. These eight episodes are eight criteria that serve the community to revise and check whether they are carrying out their mission well. Let us see:

i) Mk 1:16-20: Creating community.

The first thing that Jesus does is to call people to follow Him. A fundamental task of mission is to gather people around Jesus in order to create community.

ii) Mk 1:21-22: Creating a critical conscience.

The first thing that people see is the difference between the teaching of Jesus and that of the . Part of mission is to create a critical conscience in people, even in the face of the official religion.

iii) Mk 1:23-28: Fighting the power of evil.

Jesus’ first miracle is the driving out of an impure spirit. Part of mission is fighting the power of evil that destroys life and alienates people from themselves.

iv) Mk 1:29-31: Restoring life through service.

Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law, and she gets up and begins to serve. Part of mission is the care of the sick, so that they may be able to get up and once more serve others.

v) Mk 1:32-34: Welcoming the marginalized

After the Sabbath, people bring to Jesus the sick and the possessed that He may heal them, and, by laying His hands, He heals them all. Part of mission is to welcome the marginalized.

vi) Mk 1:35: Staying united with the Father through prayer.

After a day of labor that extends far into the night, Jesus gets up quickly so that He may pray in a desert place. Part of mission is staying united with the source of the Good News, that is, the Father, through prayer.

vii) Mk 1:36-39: Keeping up an awareness of mission.

The disciples were happy with the results and wanted Jesus to return. But He carried on with His journey. Part of mission is not to be content with results, but to keep alive an awareness of mission.

viii) Mk 1:40-45: Reinstating the marginalized into human society.

Jesus heals a leper and asks him to present himself to a priest so that he may be declared healed and may be able to live among people. Part of mission is reinstating the excluded to human society.

These eight points, so well chosen by Mark, indicate the purpose of Jesus’ mission: “I came that all may have life, and may have it abundantly!” (Jn 10:10). These same eight points may serve to evaluate our own community. Thus we can see how Mark built up his Gospel - a beautiful structure that keeps in mind two things at once: (1) it informs people of what Jesus did and taught; (2) and it forms the community and people in the mission of proclaimers of the Good News of God.

6. Praying a psalm: Psalm 125 (124)

Anyone who trusts in the Lord will not waver!

Whoever trusts in Yahweh is like Mount Zion:

unshakable, it stands for ever.

Jerusalem! The mountains encircle her:

so Yahweh encircles His people,

henceforth and forever.

The scepter of the wicked will not come to rest

over the heritage of the upright;

or the upright might set their own hands to evil.

Do good, Yahweh,

to those who are good,

to the sincere at heart.

But the crooked, the twisted, turn them away,

Yahweh, with evil-doers. Peace to Israel!

7. Final Prayer

Lord Jesus, we thank You for the word that has enabled us to understand better the will of the Father. May Your Spirit enlighten our actions and grant us the strength to practice what Your Word has revealed to us. May we, like Mary, Your mother, not only listen to but also practice the Word. You who live and reign with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.