6th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Be Made Clean

We are approaching Lent in a few days with Ash Wednesday. Today's readings lead us into this period of repentance and spiritual cleansing. It is a great way to put a "pause" to Ordinary Time until after Pentecost.

The first reading tells us of God giving Moses and Aaron instructions regarding those with leprosy. Leviticus is known from its many rule, laws, and ritual. Some of us today may find them strange, however, they served their purpose centuries ago. Leprosy here is not just a physical illness, but it is a symbol of sin. Like leprosy, sin infects the soul. It makes it smelly, unclean, and deformed, so to speak. This is why the leper is called "unclean." This reading will connect with the Gospel and its context will make more sense. God heals us, but we must first do what is necessary for this healing.
This means repenting and turning to God. The responsorial Psalm reminds us of this.

We turn to God the Lord in time of trouble and ask Him to fill us with the joy of salvation. Those who God takes away their faults are blessed indeed. God is there with them and is restoring them. We must be free of guilt and be mature. Acknowledging our sin before God is important. This is why we go to confession. We confess to the Lord our sins via the priest who acts in the person of Christ. It is not the priest forgiving the sin, but Jesus Himself. Forgiveness brings us closer to God. We must rejoice and exult in this because we are in sanctifying grace. However, it is not easy. We all will eventually sin. Human beings are frail creatures; not only physically and emotionally, but also spiritually. These are the effects of sin. They make us weak all around. This is why St. Paul reminds us in the second reading that we must be imitators of Christ.

In the second reading, St. Paul tells us to do everything for the glory of God, including when we eat and drink. So when we do anything, we must glorify God. By "everything," this means things that are moral. We cannot glorify God by committing sin. We must avoid giving offense to anyone. St. Paul specifies not offending the Jews, Greeks of the church of God. We must love and respect everyone. It is sad when I see some tweets from priests, deacons, religious and lay people endorsing and even justifying offending others. It is just disgusting and against God. We must try to please everyone in every way and not do so for our own benefit. Now this means to please everyone in a moral way of course. It does not mean to please everyone in sinful ways as the world is accustom to doing. We must imitate Christ.

Finally, in the Gospel, we read of how the leper came to Jesus begging Him to clean him. Jesus was moved with pity and made him clean. Jesus then warns the former leper not to tell anyone about the healing other than the priest and to offer what Moses had prescribed in the law. The man then went on to publicize what had happened to the point that people were looking for Jesus. Jesus could not enter the town openly because of the crowds seeking Him to obtain miracles for themselves as well. Again, leprosy is a symbol of sin. Sin is a disease of the mind, body, and soul. Like leprosy, it eats away at us, makes us weak and smelly before God, so to speak. It is not a pleasant sight when a soul is in sin, a particularly mortal sin. We must seek Christ and beg Him to cleanse us of our sins. He is the only one who can cleanse us. The rituals of Moses were a precursor to Jesus healing and cleansing us of the leprosy of sin.  The real pandemic is sin, not covid 19 coronavirus. As we approach Lent, let us do this. Let us seek Christ with sincerity and ask for forgiveness. Let us go to confession and receive the Eucharist daily if possible. Let us do good works, not offend others, and imitate Christ as St. Paul informed us in today's second reading. Today many nations celebrate love via St. Valentine's day. What better way to celebrate love than by restoring our relationship with God by going to confession! May Jesus Christ be praised!



Readings:https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/021421.cfm




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6th Sunday of Ordinary Time - Merciful God

Today's readings continue from last week's theme that Jesus heals.

In the first reading from Leviticus, we are told the procedure of how to deal with those with leprosy. These people were visibly ill and contagious. Like with any serious and infectious disease, quarantine is necessary as we see today with Ebola. The people with leprosy in the Bible were considered "unclean" which made them pariahs in the Hebrew liturgy and society. This disease was a visible sign of punishment after the bearer of it disobeyed the commands of God (Numbers 12:12-15; 2 Kings 5:27). They had to identify themselves via rent garments, covered beard, shaven head as well as shouting "unclean unclean" which were signs of mourning, death and penance (Ezekiel 24:17). The leprosy was a visible sign of sin. Mortal sin and Venial sin hurt us spiritually and physically. The life of grace dies in us every time we sin.  We become distant to God.  Since God is our life and the body cannot sustain itself without life, then sin eats away at the body just like at death when there is no life and the body cannot regenerate from decaying cells by replacing them.  Mortal sin bars us from receiving the Sacraments (except Reconciliation), especially the Holy Eucharist.

The responsorial Psalm responds to the first reading with "I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble, and you fill me with the joy of salvation." This Psalm reminds us that we must seek God and ask for mercy and forgiveness. We must acknowledge our sin before God and confess our faults to Him. It is in repentance that we find salvation (Isaiah 30:15). We will see how this ties in with today's Gospel.

In the second reading from Corinthians, Paul reminds us that everything we do must be for the glory of God. The Jesuits have a great motto, "Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam" which means "To the greater glory of God." This is pretty much what Paul is saying. When we eat, drink, work, study or play; we must do it for the glory of God. It is God who allows us to exist and sustains us so that we can live life (Psalm 66:9).  Paul also reminds us that we cannot offend others and must do things that will please instead. Today we live in a world that celebrates offending others. Free speech is not considered free unless you offend others is the mantra of today. This is unfortunate and goes against the second greatest commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves (Leviticus 19:18, Matthew 22:29).  By loving our neighbors as ourselves, we open the opportunity for them to be saved; not because of us, but because we imitate Christ. Pope Francis has been showing us how with the way he has been delivering the Petrine ministry to the world with charity and compassion. This is where today's Gospel comes in.

In the Gospel, we read of the leper who came to Jesus and kneeled before Him begging Him to have mercy and asking to be healed if it was Christ's will.  The next thing that happens is amazing. We read that Christ is moved with pity. Jesus immediately succumbed to this beggar's plea and said, "I do will it, Be made clean."  Immediately, the man's leprosy left him and he was cleaned. Christ then warns the man to not tell anyone but instead go to the priest and follow the rituals which Moses prescribed. This would be proof that the man was cleansed. We see here how Christ respects the old rites and did not come to dismiss them, but to make them into a tangible reality (Matthew 5:17).  Why did the priest need proof?  Well, news of Jesus traveled quickly and the priests of the time were suspect of Him. In the Old Testament, only God healed those with leprosy (2 Kings 5:7).  Elisha healed a leper only by calling on God in order to prove that Israel had a prophet (2 Kings 5:8).  He could not do it on his own will because he was a mere man.  In the Gospel, we read how Christ does it Himself.  This is because He is God.  God made flesh living among His people (Luke 7:16).

This Gospel not only shows us the power of Christ and the fact that He is God, but it also shows us the power of repentance and prayer. The leper knelt before Jesus.  This is not easy for a grown man to do.  What grown man kneels before another man? This would be a humiliating act in most cultures. The leper begs Jesus and Jesus is moved to act. God waits for us to repent and ask for mercy. He waits for the sheep to return (Matthew 18:12-13).  Once we return after we repent, He will heal us from the damage done by sin which is the soul's leprosy.




Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/021515.cfm