Word to the Wise
Sunday, October 10, 2010 - Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
[2 Kings 5:14-17; 2 Timothy 2:8-13; Luke 17:11-19]As Jesus was entering a village, ten lepers met him. They stood at a distance from him and raised their voices, saying, "Jesus! Master! Have pity on us." And when he saw them, he said, "Go show yourselves to the priests." As they were going they were cleansed......
There is more to illness than the particular malady! This is especially true if the illness is known to be contagious! What results is separation or even isolation and sometimes social stigmatizing. Ask anyone suffering from AIDS! In Jesus' time, "leprosy" could be any number of conditions that might affect the skin, and what we know as classic leprosy (Hansen's disease) was relatively rare. But a skin disease was sufficient to cause separation and isolation from all contact with other humans, including one's family. This could be a matter of life and death in a Middle Eastern society. In our own time, the social stigma that comes from certain forms of mental illness or AIDS, etc. can have that same isolating effect. Sometimes we isolate ourselves when we have a bad cold because we don't feel like talking to anyone! It is this isolating - social - impact of the illness of the lepers in today's gospel scripture that can escape our attention if we become too focused on the curing and the issue of gratitude, important though they may be. Restoration and reconciliation are powerful realities. The Samaritan knew about this even more than the other lepers. He may have realized that the priest might not even look at him because he was a Samaritan! It is Jesus to whom he turns! He is more than "cured," he is saved! Our concern for those who have been isolated by illness or other social stigma such as imprisonment for crime should be a part of our baptismal commitment. In the judgment scene in the Gospel of Matthew (25:31-45), we find a list of those whose lives call out to us for healing and reconciliation and comfort. Who are the lepers in our midst and can we hear them begging for our attention? AMEN
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