JOIN THE LEPER
Our thoughts and expectations influence our external state of
affairs. While we do not always get what we deserve in life, we usually get no more
than what we expect. As the principle says, we receive what we believe.
In today’s Gospel, we hear of Jesus
healing a man with leprosy. If you want to know how the ancient world of
the Bible treated people and looked upon people with leprosy, read the First
Reading and you will no doubt feel what a leper in those times most likely
felt, which is as good as dead. A leper is rejected, isolated, stripped of his
rights to community, and barred from considering himself a member of humanity.
Every leper should know his place and remind himself of these as he is required
by law to shout “unclean, unclean” (Leviticus 13:44) whenever he finds himself
within hearing distance of people.
I find it surprising that we
see none of these in the leper of Mark’s Gospel. He resisted to be treated as a
living dead. He refused to be isolated and marginalized. Against what I imagine
to be resistance of the people to let him get near Jesus, he boldly approached
the Lord believing within what is rightful to every believing Jew.
His external circumstance
tells him he is as good as dead. His internal image tells him he is a child of
God. The leper believed he is more than what society says and thinks him to be.
Jesus affirmed his faith.
Psychologists and
sociologists teach that 20 percent of our life is determined by what happens to
us. What comprises the 80 percent? What we make happen, that is, how we
respond to the 20 percent that happens to us. I believe the leper belonged to
the 80 percent group. In this regard, it’s good to be in the company of the
leper.
Make things happen — in God’s
gracious way and in His perfect time! Fr. Joel Jason
REFLECTION QUESTION: What dominates your life direction right now
— those things that happen to you or those that you can make happen?
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