Modern lepers

Read Time:2 Minute, 27 Second

Consideration for the XXVIII Sunday in Ordinary Time, year C2

In Bible times, leprosy was considered an uncleanness that excluded those suffering from this disease from the community. Hence, the lepers had to stay outside the city in order to avoid meeting with healthy people. The lepers were doomed to isolation and total social exclusion. They were commonly referred to as ‘unclean’, and the sight of a leper disgusted them.

“Hungry, naked, homeless, paralyzed, blind, leper, all these people throughout society feel unwanted, unloved and neglected. These people have become a burden for everyone and are avoided by everyone “- this is how St. Mother Teresa of Kaluta.

Bl. Father Jan Beyzym. “I know very well what leprosy is and what I must be prepared for; However, all this does not deter me, on the contrary, it attracts me, because thanks to such a service I will be able to compensate for my sins more easily “- wrote Fr. Jan Beyzym to the general of the order.

St. Francis of Assisi, in the repulsive sight and smell of a leper, found Christ. This meeting allowed him to experience God’s love.

Today, leprosy is a treatable disease. A set of antibiotics to fight leprosy costs about PLN 30. And although caring for lepers requires a lot of self-denial, dedication and care, many people agree to help. Still, unfortunately, leprosy excludes people from leading an independent existence, is still a reason for stigmatization.

Of the 10 healed of today’s Gospel, only 1 expressed gratitude for the miracle of Jesus (Lk 17: 15-16). A Samaritan, that is, the one whom the Jews considered rejected, unworthy of the name of a Hebrew. The Syrian chief Naaman, after a miraculous healing, also confessed his faith in God (2 Kings 5:15).

St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta also said: “In the West we meet the loneliness we call the leprosy of the West. It is in many ways worse than our poverty in Calcutta. ”

Listening to today’s readings, one might wonder who really is a modern leper. What is something that excludes me from outside the community? Or what causes me to become unclean / ta? Is there anything that makes me like these biblical lepers – disordered, dirty, rejected?

Leprosy affected not only people, but also their clothes, homes and surroundings. We like to attach great importance to our external appearance, counting on the fact that we can hide our defects under elegant clothes. People are moved and show compassion towards those who suffer, but in fact how many of those lamenting show real help by supporting the needy?

And if we are helped, can we express our gratitude (1 Thess 5:18)? Can we at all glorify God for the favors we receive every day Ps 98 (97): 1? Or rather, like the nine cleansed ones, do we not return to Jesus, recognizing that we simply deserve everything …?