Healing of the leper in today’s gospel reveals who Jesus is, how he feels about human
suffering; he is Emmanuel, ‘God with’ the suffering one! Leprosy had no cure until
recent times. In Israel, lepers were exiled from society because of leprosy’s contagious
nature. Lepers had to wear torn, shabby clothes and if they happened to see people
coming their way, they had to cry out, ‘unclean’. The world has been in a similar
situation during this Covid pandemic. We are to practice social distancing; people are
isolated; many died alone in hospitals; families are unable to be near the sick or to
care! The leper must have heard about Jesus healing people. It wasn’t courage that
made him come to Jesus but his utter helplessness; he was a deadman walking; he
had nothing to fear but with faith he knelt before Jesus and begged him, ‘if you wish,
you can make me clean’. In praying, he passed on to God his shame, anxiety,
diminishment and Jesus assumed them saying, ‘yes I wish it, be healed’. His gaze of
faith rested on Jesus and he was being known through by Jesus. Jesus touches the
leper and shows, though he was rejected by society, he was embraced by God as he
is!
Jesus does not address the ‘why’ of suffering or why some prayers seem unanswered.
We cry out for help in our trials or as we watch someone in the family or community
struggles to get back to normalcy. Jesus simply embraced the world of suffering. In the
Chronicles of Narnia, the magician’s nephew, C.S Lewis tells the story of a boy named
Digory whose mother is dying. When Digory first met the great Lion Aslan [Lion Aslan is
a metaphor for Christ], he gathers his courage and asks: may I, please, will you give me
some magic fruit of this country to make my mother well? It was a heartrending
request, a prayer of desperation. Aslan appears to say nothing! He had been
desperately hoping that the lion would say ‘yes’; he was horribly afraid, the lion would
say no. But he was taken aback when the Lion did neither. Digory thought about his
mother; he had great hopes but now a lump came in his throat, tears in his eyes. But
please, won’t you-can’t you give me something that will cure my mother. Until then he
was looking at the Lion’s great feet, now in despair, he looked up at his face. What he
saw surprised him as much as anything in his whole life. The Lion’s face was bent
down near his own and [wonder of wonders] great shining tears stood in his eyes. They
were such big, bright tears compared with Digory’s own that for a moment he felt as if
the Lion must really be sorrier about his mother than he was himself. Digory’s prayer
remained unanswered at that time but he was changed; he now knows the great Lion
truly cared!
There are ‘unclean situations that divide, discriminate and oppress. Jesus wants us to
move from an uncaring heart to that of a healing heart, like the good Samaritan in the
gospel. Respond to one’s own spiritual health is responding to ill health of fellow
beings and to what is corrupt in society. Christian attitude is always life-giving,
encouraging, consoling and healing! Love among human beings is the medicine that
heals all evil, what makes the kingdom of God alive in us. It is to remove all injustice,
despair and stir into flame goodness/gifts of the spirit in us, the untapped power in us.
This is the mission of the church, to integrate everything in love. Pope Francis: ‘church
is missionary community with a mother’s face, who understands, accompanies and
with her closeness, intimacy heals’. Jesus invites us to encounter our frailty, what
needs to be healed in us, all in his mercy. Like the leper and Digory, trust in a God who
weeps with us in our grief and who cares when we are in pain!