No longer unclean and unwelcome!

Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time A leper came to Jesus and kneeling down begged him and said,“If you wish, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched him, and said to him, “I do will it. Be made clean.” The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean.Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once. He said to him, “See that you tell no one anything, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them.” The man went away and began to publicize the whole matter. He spread the report abroad so that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly. He remained outside in deserted places, and people kept coming to him from everywhere. I know that we all remember back to the time when Covid was more rampant and deadly. We didn’t understand the disease, so we all kept our distances from one another. And if someone tested positive for Covid there were supposed to quarantine. Not as a punishment but because Covid was so contagious it was to make sure that the disease didn’t spread. That was a sad lonely time, a time when we had to keep our distances from one another, and we were not supposed to touch anyone. In Jesus’ time people were also concerned about disease and contagions. They didn’t understand disease and obviously there were no vaccines. The first reading outlines the rules for quarantine and the man in the Gospel with leprosy was obliged to follow the rules. The rules in the scripture were not just about health and hygiene and making sure that disease didn’t spread, someone who was sick with leprosy was labeled as a sinner, unclean. They were separated from the community until they got better. So, to be sick not only meant that you were separated from the community but also that you were an exile, you were a sinner! Jesus didn’t come to separate people, but rather to bring us together. So, when this man approached Jesus, Jesus didn’t do what he was supposed to, “move away, and keep the 1.5-meter rule!” No, Jesus touched the man! Remember the man was not just sick, he was unclean. He was contaminated and everyone need to keep their distance, but not Jesus! Jesus seems to understand that the man wasn’t contagious. He knew that if he touched the man, he wouldn’t get sick. But more importantly the touch of Jesus was to return the man to the community. With one touch Jesus lets the man know that not only is not sick, but also that he is not bad and a sinner! He can return to the community. It is interesting to note that Jesus’ touch restored the man to the community. He was no longer outside but he was inside. He didn’t have to stay on the outskirts of town, but he could return to the middle of town. But because this man went and told everyone what Jesus had done, Jesus could no longer come into the center of town, but he had to stay on the outskirts!