‘CHOOSING
YOUR BLESSING’
Last
Sunday we heard of Jesus freeing a man from a disturbing unclean spirit. When other people could not help him Jesus,
with a sharp command, was able to cure him.
This frenzied individual was henceforth enabled to live an ordinary life
with other people. News of this spread rapidly. People were amazed that Jesus
had the power to do such a thing so effortlessly.
After
this crowds sought out Jesus for Him to
heal them. Many even took the trouble to bring the sick to Jesus, as well as
those possessed by unclean spirits. Some were healed merely by touching Him.
This was exciting, sensational.
This
Sunday we are told of a leper approaching Jesus. Such people with their ugly,
much feared, skin ailments, were obliged to keep their distance from everyone
else . To keep others clear these outcasts had to shake a warning bell
vigorously or shout loudly ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ Or carry placards inscribed with
warning words. Can you imagine anything
more humiliating?
Those who touched a leper were judged to be contaminated…unclean; from that moment they were required to keep away from all
healthy people. This was fair enough in the days of
Jesus and for centuries afterwards. They did not have the medicines of modern
times. Such skin ailments were not understood. No-one had any answers.
In
the light of all this it was outrageous for this bold-faced leper to get down
on his knees before Jesus and to plead with Him, “If you want you, you can cure
me.” Feeling sorry for him, Jesus had stretched out His hand and touched him,
with the words, ‘Of course I want to heal you! Be cured!’”
If
nothing had then happened Jesus, having touched the leper would have been judged
to be contaminated. He would have been excluded from society. The whole of His
ministry of preaching and healing would have come to an abrupt end.
But in this dramatic moment Jesus had cured the leper. His
skin was clean. Jesus instructed him to have himself thoroughly examined by the
priest. Once he was given a Bill of Health he would be entitled to go back to where
he belonged…home...to his friends and to his work. Through
this healing Jesus had reconciled to the
community one whose diseased skin had
alienated him from it.
A parallel
to this occurred when a paralyzed man was brought to Jesus in a most unusual
way. Jesus was in a room packed with people. The only way He could be reached
was by making a hole in the roof and lowering him down on his stretcher. This
was certainly newsworthy but not nearly as much as what Jesus said when the man
reached him. “My child, your sins are forgiven.”
On hearing these words the reaction of the
religious leaders, Scribes, was one of righteous indignation. Among themselves
they accused Jesus of the most serious of all sins, blasphemy. “Who but God can
forgive sins?” But Jesus
meant what He had said. The man’s sin had been forgiven.
With just a few
words Jesus had reconciled to God one who had been alienated from Him by his
sins. Jesus had done for this man what only God could do…forgiven his sins. This
was a favour, a blessing far, far, greater than anything else God could have done
for him, for you, for me for anyone else.
I
give you this just a few days before Lent – a few weeks of preparing ourselves
to celebrate the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus.
I ask you, I ask myself,
who received the greater blessing from Jesus - the healed leper or the forgiven
sinner. Which of these two persons would I, you, have preferred to be?
We have a lot of time to sort this one out.
Have a blessed Lent!
Peter
Clarke, O.P.
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