February 11, 2018: 6 th Sunday Throughout human history, there have been diseases that have ravaged the lives of hundreds of millions of people. The Black Death which occurred over a two year period in the 14 th century killed anywhere between 75 to 200 million people. It was thought to be spread by flea bites. Most people died within 2 days of being diagnosed. The Flu Pandemic of 1918 killed 20-40 million people was thought to be a product of the WWI and spread globally. The Plague of Justinian which occurred in the year 541 AD is thought to have been a form of the Bubonic plague spread by rats. At its height 5000 people were dying each day in Constantinople and ended up killing around 40% of the population in that city. To this list we should add the various epidemics of small pox and the measles that killed 80% of Native Americans in North and South America after being introduced by colonialists. In our own recent history, the HIV/AIDS virus has killed about 35 million people worldwide and created, at its outset, great fear in our own population. The most common disease we hear about in the Bible is leprosy. Even though it did not kill millions of people as some of these other diseases have, it has endured for thousands of years. Leprosy is a bacteria which damages the nerves especially in one s extremities like toes, fingers, nose, ears and more. One of the reasons it has been the most feared disease is that the effects are very visible. Deformity of one s face and body, blisters and oozing sores created terror in people. As a result, people with leprosy were quarantined set apart in colonies. In biblical times, victims of leprosy could not live within the city. As we hear in today s first reading they were considered to be impure and there were many Jewish religious laws which prevented lepers from participating in the daily social and religious life of Israel. But Israel has not been alone in treating lepers in this way. During the British Rule in India, lepers were segregated from society. Men 1 of 5
and women with leprosy were also segregated to prevent them from reproducing. More recently, the island of Molokai in Hawaii was home to a leper colony largely ignored until the ministry of Fr. Damien began. Today there are only about 200 cases of leprosy, known as Hansen s disease, in the United States. But over 200,000 people worldwide are afflicted with this disease mostly in India and other places where poverty persists. Of course, Jesus was familiar with various illnesses and leprosy. He saw how people who were ill were shunned, persecuted and separated from their own families. Even more tragically, people with leprosy were thought to be cursed by God for some sin and were considered spiritually unclean. This kind of judgment upon the sick denied their basic human dignity which was of great concern to Jesus. In response to this reality, Jesus approached the sick with compassion and mercy. He taught that even those who were sick were children of God who were to be treated with care and love. On many different occasions, we read how Jesus allowed the sick to approach him. He reached out and made physical contact with them and, most powerfully, he healed them. By healing the sick such as those with leprosy, Jesus not only returned them to physical health but restored their dignity by reuniting them with their families and welcoming them back into the religious and social life of Jewish society. Today s Gospel is one such example. A man with leprosy approaches Jesus, kneels down and says to him, If you wish, you can make me clean. That s a profound statement of faith. The man didn t say, Jesus, can you heal me? Instead he already believed Jesus could heal him. He simply leaves it up to Jesus. If you wish, you can heal me. Jesus says, I do will it and cures the man. Even today, Jesus wills that the sick be cured. It is God s desire that the sick be healed. Of course, we have medicines that can cure people of many illnesses and there are many wonderful health care workers: doctors, nurses and more who treat 2 of 5
the sick with compassion. Add to that the work of various non-profit agencies and clinics that do a good job bringing relief to those who are sick. But we all know that more can be done to alleviate the pain and misery of those who are sick, not only in our country but in other parts of the world. Caring for the sick is one of the obligations of the Church itself. Today happens to be World Day of the Sick and Pope Francis addressed the need for the Church to give priority to those who are struggling with illness or disease. He wrote the following: The Church s vocation to the needy and to the sick continues to the present day throughout the world. In countries where adequate public health care systems exist, the work of Catholic religious congregations and dioceses and their hospitals is aimed not only at providing quality medical care, but also at putting the human person at the center of the healing process, while carrying out scientific research with full respect for life and for Christian moral values. In countries where health care systems are inadequate or non-existent, the Church seeks to do what she can to improve health, eliminate infant mortality and combat widespread disease. Everywhere she tries to provide care, even when she is not in a position to offer a cure. The image of the Church as a field hospital that welcomes all those wounded by life is a very concrete reality, for in some parts of the world, missionary and diocesan hospitals are the only institutions providing necessary care to the population. But other than the institutional Church carrying out her ministry as Jesus did towards the sick, what can we do as individuals? Most of us will never be, or even meet, someone with leprosy. We will, however, meet many people who suffer not only from physical illness, but those who are marginalized by society because of their health condition. We will meet people with mental challenges, addictions and illnesses that make it hard to be with them. 3 of 5
We will encounter people who have not had the strength or the resources to preserve their health and, at times, we who are healthy will judge them to be irresponsible for not taking care of themselves. We will meet people whose circumstances are so frightening that we will desire to separate ourselves from them. We may even, one day, be one of these people. So we have to ask, What does this Gospel say to us today? Again, we hear the words of Jesus to the man with leprosy. He says, I do will to make you clean. Christ wants us to enjoy the healing and wholeness that comes from God s touch in our life. This is a wholeness that can come to people s lives in spite of their illness or suffering. The dignity we afford people who are suffering finds its basis in hope, joy and confidence that they are children of God and that they, too, are recipients of God s love and blessings. We know that the sick, too, are deserving of eternal life through the death and Resurrection of Christ. Just because people are sick or lack the means to remain healthy, does not lessen their human dignity. What we learn from the response of Jesus to the sick is that God has a special care and concern for those who are suffering. Our faith also teaches us that there is meaning to be found in human suffering because it opens the door to God s mercy being practiced by us. The presence of the sick in our families, our neighborhoods and in our communities compels us to become healers in Christ s name, witnessing to them by our presence, compassion and practical care. On this World Day of the Sick, let us pray for all who suffer mental or physical illness; for the caregivers, clinicians, families and friends who accompany them. Let us pray especially for those who have no community to support them; for those who lack health care and for those who suffer and die alone. Let us pray that our own hearts will be moved by compassion, in the same way Christ was moved with compassion, to assist the sick in any way possible. 4 of 5
When we reach out in love to the sick and suffering of our world, we are really reaching out to touch Christ himself who shares our humanity and who knows what it means to feel pain and suffering. Christ willingly embraced our weak human nature in his own body so that he could lay it down on the cross and raise it up to something healthy and new. 5 of 5