HOMILY: FEBRUARY 12, 2006
One of the strangest moments of my priestly life occurred when I was but ordained one year. I was working at Our Lady of Victory Church (Msgr. Hayes was the pastor I worked under--he just died a few days ago).
Our living arrangement wasn’t the greatest. We lived in the house which was also the parish office. Msgr’s bedroom was in the back of the house while my bedroom was right off the main office. Not only that but my bedroom was right next to the back door which looked out on the parking lot of the Church. Needless to say, that was the door that almost everyone came to when they needed something.
Early one morning about 2 AM, there was a knock at the door. I heard it and got out of bed and put on my robe. As I turned on the outside light I could see a woman standing there in the parking lot. She looked terrible. She was young— in her twenties, I would guess— very skinny with matted hair. She was barefoot and actually wore a large plastic garbage bag around her. As my eyes focused on her I could see that she had large blotches on her face and arms and legs. Some looked like they were still bloody. When I opened the door she just said, “the bugs are biting me, the bugs are biting me!” I could see that she was scratching her sores as she kept saying this. She said she needed money to buy a prescription. But I knew that she was probably under the influence of some drug. She seemed delirious and didn’t make any sense when I tried to talk to her. Not knowing what to do, I just pulled $5 out of my pocket and gave it to her. I also got a blanket out of the closet and gave it to her. As I handed the blanket and money to her, she reached out and grabbed my arm. The last thing I wanted was for her to touch me. I didn’t know why she was covered with sores and I didn’t really want to know. All I could think of was to withdraw my arm as fast as I could.
After I closed the door, I got on the phone and called the police. I told them that there was a woman at our door who was obviously troubled and ill. But after I finished my conversation with the police, I turned around and she was no where in sight. She had simply walked away from the door. I never knew what came of her or whether or not the police actually came by. All I could think of was to wash my hands and go back to bed.
As you might imagine, people in biblical times suffered from all kinds of diseases and illnesses. But the one affliction that caused the most fear was leprosy. But leprosy was a term that was used to describe any skin disease, rash, blotch, sore, pustule, or open wound. And anyone who had something obvious like this was immediately quarantined. They were forced to leave their family and home and business and relocate to a colony outside the city. They had to dress in a way that covered their skin condition; they could not worship in the Temple, and, if it looked like someone was going to come into contact with them, they were to shout out, “Unclean! Unclean!” in order to alert those who were drawing close to them. People suffering from any such disease had to follow the prescriptions of the law that were found in the Book of Leviticus— our first reading today. People with “leprosy” not only suffered physical pain but the pain of being excluded from society. They were outcasts until their condition cleared up.
In every Gospel, Jesus comes into contact with such people. Perhaps because his reputation as a healer preceded him, those who were afflicted were often bold enough to approach Jesus. Such is the case with the person in today’s Gospel. We hear how he approaches Jesus directly and says to Jesus, “If you want, you can heal me.” Jesus is moved with pity and he reaches out and touches the person and says, “I do will it. Be healed.” The word and touch of Jesus heals the person and he goes off to tell everyone about his healing.
In reaching out to those who were obviously afflicted, Jesus was not only demonstrating a bold compassion but was risking his own exclusion from the community. Where everyone else kept their distance from those who were sick, Jesus was not deterred by human suffering. He welcomed those who approached him and he touches that which would have repulsed other people. In doing so, Jesus not only heals those who are afflicted but he restores them to their standing in the community. All of those who had been alienated from their families and towns because of disease were reintegrated into their families and social structures by Jesus. The deeper message is that Jesus is not only a healer of the body, but he heals a society which is fractured and polarized. By Jesus’ actions we learn that in the Kingdom of God there are no outsiders. All belong to God and all belong to each other.
One of the great challenges of our contemporary society is how to be inclusive of those who are compromised in some way. In spite of all our scientific and medical achievements, there is still a fear about what to do with those who are ill and, even though we are able to prolong people’s lives, we are uncertain about what we will do with those who are living longer. How will we support them? Who will care for them? Where should they live? What we are discovering is that even in the most supportive communities, suffering and illness tends to alienate people from each other. Those who are healthy and secure keep their distance from those who are unhealthy.
We should be concerned about this reality. Why? First, because we are vulnerable and we shall one day be afflicted in some way if we haven’t been already. With illness and disease come not only physical limitations but feelings of anxiety, diminishment, and fear of being unproductive. Not only that, but illness can sap our energy, consume everything we have worked for and leave us feeling worthless. There are also social consequences of being sick: isolation, the stigma of being a burden, and being looked at as bothersome and annoying.
More importantly, though, we are to be concerned about the plight of those who are suffering because it is our responsibility as Christians to care for the sick and to reach out to them. People who are ill are often times living on the edge of life and on the fringes of our community. They are in desperate need of God and of each other. A Christian response to these needs is to be inclusive of those who suffer and to assure them that they are still valuable members of society and that they are still loved. We are the ones responsible to make certain that the loving touch of Christ is shared with the sick and suffering. It is our duty and obligation to not only provide what the sick need to become healthy physically but to liberate them from their sense of being isolated from their families, their community and even from the Church. The measure of a just and compassionate society is found in the way the sick are treated and cared for. The real strength of a society lies in how well the vulnerable are protected and cared for.
What this means is that those who are sick must be evangelized. We must share the Good News of God’s love and our love for them. Like Jesus we are to put aside our personal concerns and embrace the sick with compassion and mercy. We are to strive to be more inclusive of those who have been excluded for some reason. In doing this, we emulate the love of Christ which manifested itself most radically in his willingness to be with the sick and to minister to them.
Finally, our willingness to minister to the sick is one of the most powerful ways of sharing in the Cross of Jesus himself. The Cross of Jesus refers not only to the personal pain and suffering he endured but how well he shared in the pain and suffering of others. Jesus showed a deep care and concern for the sick of society. He went to those who were living on the fringes of society and he spent his public ministry reaching out to the afflicted. He shed tears and felt frustration for those who were variously afflicted. We are to live out that example by doing the same.
So, as we reflect on the healing ministry of Jesus, we will hopefully renew our own commitment to be with those who are sick. By extending our hands to those who are afflicted, we seek to touch the person of Christ who bore our own afflictions and by touching the person of Christ we, too, will find healing and comfort.