Word to the Wise
Friday, June 26, 2009 - Friday in the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time
[Genesis 17:1, 9-10, 15-22 and Matthew 8:1-4]When Jesus came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. And then a leper approached, did him homage, and said, "Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean." He stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, "I will do it. Be made clean."
The Sermon on the Mount (a true "catechism" of Christian life) has ended and Jesus comes down from the mountain. We know from the description of the crowd as he began the sermon that it contained people with all kinds of diseases and problems. (Matt 4:24) Having shown Jesus to be one who teaches with authority, Matthew now shows Jesus to be a compassionate healer. I find these two aspects of the Matthean portrait of Jesus to be pastorally challenging. It is not enough to preach the gospel verbally or to just hand folks a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and tell them to believe. There has to be a physical and visible demonstration of that teaching. It has to be put into practice. Teaching and healing go together like hand in glove. On the part of the leper in this gospel account (the first of three short demonstrations), there is a sign of faith. He kneels before Jesus and calls him "Lord!" The leper has faith and he shows it! While I personally find this to be a challenging model, it is not meant just for me. The model is for all of us. We have a great heritage of faith and should not be afraid to share it. But we will get nowhere if we are afraid of the lepers and all the others who present themselves to receive Christ-like compassion! AMEN
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