Jesus wants to make us clean (Sunday, Week 6, Year B)

 

INTRODUCTION

The first reading indirectly confronts us with the tragic reality of our common sickness (the sickness of sin which renders unclean). The gospel helps us understand that no situation is so terrible that we can’t rise from it. Jesus is ever ready to help us rise from our mess. Of course He wants to cleanse us and make us whole. In order to celebrate this mass worthily, let us then acknowledge our sins and then ask for God’s pardon and mercy…

HOMILY PROPER

Next Wednesday is Ash Wednesday which begins the Lenten Season. The readings of this mass may serve as a prelude to the season of Lent. We understand the season of Lent as that season which brings us face to face with the reality of sin. And this is very important because we live in a world that is fast losing the consciousness of sin. Pope Pius XII said that “The greatest sin of our time is the loss of the sense of sin”. We are living in a world that is gradually but forcefully reshaping our moral perspectives: things that used to be unacceptable are now becoming acceptable. A lot of things are being accepted as normal and good. The moral values that we have so much cherished are gradually being eroded. The language is now changing: “If you feel good about it, go ahead. It is your life”. The Church continues to provide us with readings and exercises that challenge us with the fact that we are sinners in need of God’s mercy.

We may understand our situation better if we reflect more deeply on what it means to be a leper among the Jews. For the Jews, every sickness (or suffering in general) is connected to sin. So, if you are sick, then you must have sinned. Remember the story of Job. His friends strongly believed that he was afflicted with sickness and suffering because he greatly sinned against God (cf. Job 36:21). We also know about the story of the man born blind in John 9. The Jewish deep-seated belief that sickness is caused by sin made the disciples of Jesus ask the question: “Master, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” For the Jews, the worst of all sicknesses is leprosy, a disease that makes the sufferer unclean. In fact, not only do the Jews consider the leper as being unclean, they also consider him as the worst of all sinners. 

Once declared unclean by a priest, the leper cannot stay in the midst of others or come in contact with any person so that he doesn’t make them unclean. He is sent out of the community or camp of Israel and shall dwell alone in a habitation outside the camp. A bell will be hung around his neck and he must continuously shout “Unclean! Unclean!” so that people would know of his unclean situation and stay away from him. He will also wear tattered clothes and keep his hair unkempt. He will remain in this condition until he is declared clean by a priest when he is free of leprosy. That’s the unfortunate situation of a leper in the Jewish culture. 

In the gospel, the first reaction of Jesus when the leper came to him was that of great compassion: He was “MOVED WITH PITY”. Yes, he was rejected by his people but Jesus did not reject him. He was confined to perish out of existence but Jesus restored his life so that he could rejoin his community. Jesus understood his terrible situation and healed him. 

No matter the arguments we project to deny our sinfulness, no matter how we try to cover our sins, the fact is that we are sinners in need of God’s healing and restoration just like that leper. We can’t hide or deny our situation. As St Paul reminds us in Rom 3:23: “All of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory”. Jesus is ready to heal us and make us whole. Of course, He wants to make us clean again. He has come that we may have life and have it in full (cf. Jn 10:10). He has crucified our sins on the cross and has opened for us a way to salvation and fullness of life. As He took compassion on the leper, He will also have pity on us and make us clean. But the leper was not just in his house outside the camp, waiting for Christ to come and make him clean. He made a move; he took a step towards Jesus; and his efforts paid off at the end of the day. 

Just like the leper whose condition separated him from his community, our sins separate us from God and from the Church. When we sin, we not only offend God, we also wound the mystical body of Christ (which is the Church) of which we are members. Our sins not only affect us; they also affect others. And that is why it is necessary to seek reconciliation with the Church in the Sacrament of Reconciliation whenever we sin. There was an argument that came up in the past as to why we must go to priests for confession if God can forgive us when we sincerely confess our sins directly to him. By our individual sins, we not only offend God, we also wound the Church. Yes, we can obtain forgiveness directly from God, but we must also go to the Church for complete and total reconciliation and restoration. And that is why Jesus instructed the leper to go and show himself to a priest and make the necessary sacrifices so that he would be fully restored to the community.

The struggle against sin is real. St Paul tells us something that will help us in this struggle. In the second reading, St Paul says: “whether we eat or drink, or whatever we do or say, all must be done to the glory of God”. In other words, we must seek to glorify God in words and deed. Anyone who sincerely seeks to glorify God in words and deed must surely make frantic efforts to avoid sin. We cannot be conscious of glorifying God and at the same time consciously submit to sin. May our Lady and all the saints help us as we strive to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect!