Interacting in Love

Homily
SIXTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR
12 FEBRUARY 2006

Mark 1: 40-45

[Mark 1:40] A leper came to him (and kneeling down) begged him and said, "If you wish, you can make me clean."
[Mark 1:41] Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched him, and said to him, "I do will it. Be made clean."
[Mark 1:42] The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean.
[Mark 1:43] Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once.
[Mark 1:44] Then 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."
[Mark 1:45] 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.
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Jesus' mission included the preaching of the coming of the kingdom of His Father. He performed miracles, which included miracles of healing, and he cast out demons, as signs which pointed to the validation of His mission.

Because of His love, on particular occasions He would perform a prodigious sign from motives of compassion. Such was the first of His signs at Cana, whereby his compassion, for the potential embarrassment of the newlywed couple should they run out of wine for their guests, motivated Him at His mother's behest, to change water into wine.

In today's Gospel, we see Jesus again moved with compassion at the plea of the leper to cleanse him of his leprosy. Jesus as healer shows forth his coming as savior: as He healed the leper of his physical leprosy, so He had come to heal the world of the moral leprosy of sin, answering Jeremiah's plea:

[Jer 17:14] Heal me, LORD, that I may be healed; save me, that I may be saved, for you alone are my hope.

When unlike things are brought together, they may or may not interact. When oil is combined with water, there is little interaction other than the oil floating upon the water. If salt is combined with water, there is interaction: the salt dissolves into the water. When unlike things do interact, there is often a tendency for them to become more alike. Thus, a red-hot poker thrust into a pail of cold water results in heating of the water and cooling of the poker.

Besides physical interactions, there can also be moral interactions. When a good man and a bad man interact, two possible outcomes are:

1. The bad man can transmit his evil to the good man, making the good man worse.

2. The good man can transmit his good to the bad man, making the bad man better.

As we read in the book of Proverbs:

[Prov 12:18] The prating of some men is like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise is healing.

[Prov 13:17] A wicked messenger brings on disaster, but a trustworthy envoy is a healing remedy.

We speak often of the necessity for everyone, and especially for young people, to avoid bad companions. Man is a social being, and pressure to conform to the moral norms of the society in which he finds himself can, as we know, be quite strong. If such norms are evil, he will be pressured into becoming tainted with that evil. If such norms are good, he will be drawn to becoming a morally better person.

In the case of a physical interaction, some change occurs in both elements of the interaction. Hence, when the poker is plunged into cold water, it loses some of its heat, and the water becomes warmer.

In the case of a moral interaction, however, one of the persons can be changed with no corresponding change in the other. The evil man, having swayed the good man to partake of evil, remains an evil man. The good man who provides the occasion for an evil man to renounce his ways and become good, himself remains a good man.

Our Lord exemplifies this in today's Gospel reading. He, the spotless one, confronts the evil of leprosy, and He does so by loving interaction. He not only commands the leprosy to disappear, He reaches out and touches the leper. Jesus, the infinitely good one, does not change: rather, the leper undergoes a change which makes him spotless as well. Our Lord's touching the leper is not a gratuitous action: by it He is exercising a loving interaction; that He is giving not just a "thing", a "healing", but at a deeper level is giving of Himself. Moreover, He is manifesting His lordship through the power of His love.

Seventeen centuries ago, St. John Chrysostom commented on today's Gospel reading as follows:

He did not simply say, "I will, be cleansed," but he also "extended his hand, and touched him"--an act we do well to analyze. If he cleansed him merely by willing it and by speaking, why did he also add the touch of his hand? For no other reason, it seems to me, than that he might signify by this that he is not under the hand of the law, but the law is in his hands. Hence to the pure in heart, from now on, nothing is impure. ... He touched the leper to signify that he heals not as servant but as Lord. For the leprosy did not defile his hand, but his holy hand cleansed the leprous body.

Jesus shows by His example that our ministry in His name is not to be done in an aloof manner, but requires a manifest degree of personal involvement. This He symbolizes by His act of touching. A profound example of this is found in the life of Blessed Father Damien de Vuester, the "leper priest" of Molokai, as described in the following passage:

The lepers in Molokai became accustomed to seeing Fr. Damien go into the pulpit each Sunday morning, cross himself, and begin his sermon with the same words: “You lepers must always remember that God the Father loves you!” Then he would go on to preach a homily that was always full of joy, hope, and faith. Several years passed and the colony of lepers was slowly transformed into a loving community of believers. Then, one Sunday morning Fr. Damien stepped into his pulpit and with a broad smile began his sermon by saying, "We lepers know and must always remember that God the Father loves us!” This was the first indication that Fr. Damien had contracted leprosy himself. Many came to console him, but he would just smile and say, “God has answered my prayers, now I really am one of you!” He continued to pour out his life for them until his death. He died, one of them, a leper among lepers. Damien wrote once that the most important words he ever spoke as a priest were the words "we lepers". He thought those two words summed up the life of Jesus who joined His life to ours and took on every aspect of our life except sin. Jesus entered into our suffering and asks us, his followers, to be ready and willing, like Fr. Damien to be a “leper among lepers”.

We are charged, as has been often said, with preaching the Gospel, and when necessary, using words. Suppose I am confronted by a hungry person, one who is in genuinely dire need. I can respond to his need in more than one way.

1. I can give money to the person, and then move on. Here I have responded to his need without any significant further interaction. I have "healed" so to speak his hunger, but have not touched him at a personal level.

2. I can invite the person to be my guest at a meal. During the meal, I learn his name, and relate to him at a personal level in other ways. Here now I have followed Our Lord's example of touching that person--I am giving not just the meal, but I am giving of myself. I am properly answering the question, "What would Jesus do?"

As the commercial motto says, we are ready to "reach out and touch someone" whenever and wherever the occasion arises. What about the practical side of all this? Suppose we simply do not have time to invite the hungry man to a meal? When giving him money for a meal, we at least have time to learn his name. I cannot overstate the importance of this simple act, for it is prerequisite to any interaction which involves the giving of one's self, and as such is itself an act of love.

An example of touching someone by speaking powerfully from the heart is given by the story of a woman in poor health who had traveled a considerable distance to the Mayo Clinic to avail herself of the expertise of doctors experienced in treating her rare and serious condition. After preliminary examinations, the doctor in charge came into her room and announced that it was necessary for him to perform an operation on her no later than the following morning. As he spoke to her, she broke into tears at this turn of events. She told the doctor that she was afraid because she was separated from her loved ones and would be so dreadfully alone during the course of the operation. The doctor took her hand in his, and said, "You will not be alone Mrs. Smith. I will be there".

Cardinal John Henry Newman, the distinguished English prelate of the nineteenth century had as his motto "Cor ad cor loquitur": "Heart speaks to heart". The Gospel of Jesus Christ, as proclaimed by each of us in our daily lives, is proclaimed first by our actions, then by our words, but always from the heart, so that we do in fact reach out and touch as Jesus did.