Homily: February 11,2023, Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Leprosy Touch).

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 Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched him, and said to him, “I do will it. Be made clean.”

Leprosy is a terrible disease. Physically, it does not just affect the skin, but also the nerves, the respiratory tract and the eyes. When full blown, lepers look frightening to others.

It is also infectious; thus people avoid any contact with lepers. In Jesus’ time, there was little knowledge about leprosy, so it was considered a curse and lepers were considered unclean and untouchable. Socially, lepers become displaced from family, community and normal life.

In today’s first reading, Moses prescribes the rule for managing someone with leprosy. It keeps the leper away from others so that the condition can be contained and not spread to everyone in the community. The cry of the leper, “unclean, unclean” is a socially responsible action on the part of the leper, but is there mercy and compassion for the leper?

Yes, there is. In today’s Gospel, Jesus does something unthinkable and impossible in those times.

Jesus touched the leper.

The leper might not have been touched by another human in a long time and might have even lost his sensation due to leprosy. This touch is more than a human touch, it is God’s touch of love.

This touch restored both the leper’s physical condition as well as his social condition. This healing not only demonstrates Jesus’ power to heal physical infirmities but also his ability to heal spiritual infirmities caused by sin. Jesus is more than a super physician; He is spiritual physician.

Sin is spiritual leprosy. Sin is a condition more horrible than leprosy. It is contagious, addictive, distorts a person’s soul and disconnects the person from God. Ultimately, it will take the life of the person. Just as lepers feel numbness in their bodies, sin makes us numb to reality. Over time, we become so comfortable with sin that we don’t even feel guilty anymore.

‘Moved with pity’, Jesus wants to heal us from our sins and mend us from your brokenness. He desires to touch every one of us to cleanse us.

A classmate of mine, practicing as a doctor in India, shared that sometimes a comforting pat on a patient's shoulder is more effective than any medicine.

At every Mass, Jesus is present for healing. This evening after Mass, we will also have a dedicated healing service, to invoke again, the presence of Jesus to touch everyone through the hands of the prayer team.

The same Jesus who healed the leper is present here with us now - spiritually, physically and sacramentally, to be one with us, to touch us, to cleanse us. Let say to Jesus, “Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean, you can make me whole, you can heal me, you can restore me.” Amen.


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