In ancient times, leprosy was a fearsome disease, highly contagious, and fatal. Still, there were a good many other diseases, even more fatal, more common, and more contagious than leprosy-tuberculosis, smallpox, etc. But people who suffered from these were not made to cover their faces, wear a bell, leave the camp, and warn away anyone who might come near by yelling out their uncleanness. In the literature of so many cultures, leprosy was so uniquely despised, it was worse than contagious, even worse than fatal…It was ugly. It was not easy to be compassionate toward a leper. It was much easier to be disgusted, to be repulsed.
I always think in this Gospel reading (Mark 1:40-45), that even before the leper was healed, Christ had worked his miracle, simply by reaching out and touching the man. In place of disgust, Christ put compassion. The real manifestation of God’s power in this story is not that one sick person is made healthy, but rather in the fact that a person universally held to be repulsive, unlovable, even evil, is in fact loved, is the object of God’s mercy and compassion. And that is a miracle indeed. A miracle that heals not only leprosy, but heals as well human fear, human prejudice, human inability to love where and when the need is greatest.
Because of its ugliness, leprosy became for the Hebrews, and so many others, a symbol of everything that is ugly and frightening and evil. Human beings have always found a particular sort of satisfaction in lumping together all of their anxiety and fear and disgust, and destroying it, banishing it from the camp, burying it. Thinkers over the years have even proposed that we can’t really chase away the ugliness, because it is in us. What we really fear is ourselves, the ugliness, the weakness, the deformity that is in each of us. And so it is easy to project it onto others.
My friends the real meaning behind today’s gospel passage is the meaning of human suffering and God love for us. Sometimes in life everyone will have to endure physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual suffering. We know this is the case, so we try to prepare ourselves for the inevitable. Yet when it comes, as prepared as we try to be, it can overtake us with such fury that we fall back defenseless. We look to others for support and assistance, and if we are fortunate, we find it. However, even in the most supportive of families and communities suffering may exact a price we may not be prepared to pay. It tends to alienate us from, those who are healthy and secure.
Leprosy may be an extreme example, but it reveals several aspects of suffering. First, there are the circumstances of the misfortune itself. These might include pain, anxiety, diminishment, and ultimately death. In addition, suffering can sap our energy, jeopardize everything we have achieved, and leave us unproductive and feeling worthless. There are also social consequences. Suffering reminds us of our own finitude and the contingent nature of all of life. It threatens people’s sense of order, and they often tend to dissociate themselves from those in pain. Finally, the one suffering and unable to get beyond the distress may seem to be quite annoying, constantly demanding our attention and time. Others may want to distance themselves from such a bothersome person.
The good news is that Jesus is not afraid by human suffering. He welcomes all who approach him; he touches what might repel others. His healing touch brings back those who have been ostracized; his loving embrace re-associates those who have been alienated. In the reign of God there are no outsiders. All belong to, Jesus, and therefore, all belong to each other. Those who have shunned because of some physical condition or social status have been brought back into the circle of the community, and the community is made whole again. The one afflicted belongs to the community, and the community is now an authentic manifestation of the inclusive reign of God.
It seems that too often we merely endure suffering and miss the opportunity to reap the benefits it can bring. In suffering we witness to human vulnerability an our desperate need of each other and of God. There, at the edge of life and on the fringes of the community, we may experience the tenderness and compassion of God, the loving touch of Christ that can heal our souls if not our bodies. It is there that we may most authentically participate in the cross of Christ. Joined to him we are anything but unproductive or worthless. If we turn to the Lord in time of trouble, we will begin to experience the joy of salvation, and our lives will proclaim it to others. But first we must as confidently as the leper bring our fears and failing to Christ, and with the same words as his: “If you will it, you can heal me.” Christ’s answer will be for us as it was then: “Of course I will. Be healed.”
