https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/062824.cfm
Quarantine Is No Fun
When COVID-19 hit, we did everything possible to keep ourselves from catching the virus. We wore masks, and anyone with COVID isolated themselves for up to two weeks or more. Some people had no symptoms, others were isolated in the hospital, and some were in critical care.
People in our Lord’s time experienced the same thing with leprosy, except for one exception: The disease did not last for two weeks but for life. Limbs would slowly rot away. The stench was horrible and repulsive. More than cut off from society, society considered a leper as already dead.
Mosaic Law forbade anyone to come into contact with someone with leprosy. So, what does Jesus do? – He does the unthinkable. Our Lord reaches out and touches the untouchable; so much did he suffer with him. Jesus not only empathizes with the leper, he is compassionate, relieving him of his leprosy.
Incredibly, the leper does not keep Jesus at a distance as the Mosaic Law demanded. Neither could the stench of his dying flesh keep Jesus away, so powerful was Jesus’ compassion for this man.
Jeff Weiner, the former CEO of LinkedIn, said, “Empathy is to see someone suffering under the weight of a burden and respond by putting the same burden on yourself. Compassion is alleviating the person from the burden.” (Compassionate Leadership – How To Do Hard Things In A Human Way, p.55, by Rasmus Hougaard and Jacqueline Carter)
You can’t just sit by and let someone suffer when you love them. You have to do something. The Law is no longer binding when serving the genuine needs of others.
The leper experienced this journey into the heart of Jesus when he said to the Lord, “If you do so, you can heal me.” He was saying, “I have found my home. I belong. Jesus just accepted me into his world.”
Gospel Challenge:
Is anyone living in isolation from family or friends? Reach out the hand of Jesus to them and let them know they still have a home in your heart.
Love Your Neighbor!
Fr. Rick Pilger, IC
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