2/14/21: In this episode, we discuss the readings of the 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021421.cfm) which also happens to be the feast of St. Valentine patron love, married people, and young people. As men who've been married to our wives for multiple years, we offer little nuggets of experiential wisdom for those discerning married life or newly married: Invite God into your marriage, "Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the Church and gave himself for her" (Ephesians 5:25), and strive to be of one mind, one heart.
The theme running through these readings is where sin separates us from God and eachother, God sent Jesus to heal and gather us all back together.
The first reading from Leviticus describes Mosaic law surrounding Leprosy. In the ancient world, spiritual and physical ailments were not view so distinctly as we see it today. While not directly causing disease, it remains true, however, that in general suffering is a consequence of sin. Diseases like Leprosy as described here rendered people ritually "unclean" and thus had to separate themselves from the rest of the community. This is a deeper suffering because not only were such enduring a difficult disease, but they also could not be "touched" and worship God along with everyone else. The psalm is a prayerful response, "I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble, and you fill me with the joy of salvation." The only thing that can cure all our "illnesses" is God's forgiveness of sin, our salvation (cf. Luke 1:77).
The second reading is from St. Paul's letter to the Church in Corinth which was a diverse port city. The challenge of diversity is overcoming cultural differences of varying sensibilities. Jewish people come from a background in the Torah, and a highly ritualized culture. The Greeks are informed by the poets and philosophers like Homer and Plato. Paul exhorts both to learn about eachother and not give offense, but ultimately everyone is supposed to come together and "be imitators of [Paul] as [he is] of Christ" (1 Corinthians 11:1).
Lastly, but most importantly, we turn to the Gospel of Mark, the Gospel of action. In this reading, a leper who, having heard about the news of Jesus, this wise and powerful healer, comes to him and begs to be healed. Jesus "moved with pity...touched him, and said to him, 'I do will it. Be made clean'" (Mark 1:42). A detail that would have been startling to ancient hearers is that Jesus touched him. Someone who was ritually unclean was "untouchable" in the worst sense. A person who touches a ritually unclean person can be rendered unclean themselves and suffer the same fate of isolation. Leprosy in this case is symbolic of our sinfulness, by which we separate ourselves from God and each other.
Christ came to bring healing through the Gospel and the giving of grace through the sacraments. Reconciliation is particularly important in this regard as sin separates, the forgiveness of sin brings back, just as Jesus' healing enables the leper to rejoin his people.
Remember, this Wednesday is Ash Wednesday the beginning of the holy season of Lent. We encourage you to see this as an opportunity to get a fresh start and rejoin your local church communities as we prepare for the holiest feast of the calendar--Easter! #ProjectWhetstone #BlazeMinistry707
