RESTORATION AND REINTEGRATION: TIME TO REINVENT LOVE.

February 14, 2021
Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time - B

Readings: Lv 13:1-2, 44-46; Ps 32:1-2, 5, 11; 1 Cor 10:31—11:1; Mk 1:40-45.

An Ashanti proverb says, “If a tree is cursed even its shade is unclean.” And an Italian proverb adds, “Dirty water does not wash clean.”

Human beings are community beings. Cutaway from the community and the relationship with others, we die. There are, unfortunately, many sad situations that dissociate man from others and set him aside to live by himself. Sickness and sins are among those situations that cause greater hindrance to our being communitarian and close us in the slavery of the self. The Lord Jesus came to proclaim liberation to all who were enslaved by any kind of chain, the poor and the forsaken or outcasts of our societies.

In the Jewish world and culture, leprosy was one of the reasons for one to live as an outcast. The lepers were banned from the towns and villages and forced to live outside, in cemeteries, or caves. With Jesus, a new era is opened. Lepers and outcasts are restored and reintroduced or reintegrated into society.

Today’s first reading provides the juridical background of that exclusion. In the book of Leviticus, the Lord recommends to Moses and Aaron what should be done for one who is found with leprosy. From the fact that he is made dirty by his sickness, he is no longer allowed to live together with others. Therefore, “the leper shall dwell alone in a habitation outside the camp.” And not only so, but he should also warn others to not approach where he is by shouting, “unclean, unclean.”

In one or another way, we all are unclean. We are subject to the leprosy of sin. In that sense, we should be called to live away from others and cast out from our communities. Sin is the worst of sickness in which man falls. It breaks our links with others and closes us in isolation. It sets us socially distant from others. Once we sin, all who encounter us are made dirty by our sins. Therefore, we should live outcasts, socially distant.

But Lord came to save us from the slavery to sin and set us free. With the coming of Jesus, we are restored and reintroduced in social life. The healing of the leper and the mandate given by Jesus to go and show himself to the priest evoke that liberation and reinsertion in the society. God, in Jesus, has compassion for the suffering humanity. He has not created us to be isolated or to live in social distancing. Though sin breaks our communion with others, God sets us free from sin and its consequences and restores us to a life in harmony with each other.

Freed by Christ, we are invested with a mission. St. Paul, in the second reading, presents that mission: to be imitators of Christ. The Christian life is a life of imitation. In all that we do, we have to set a model and do all things for a purpose. So, the Apostle of the Gentiles exhorts, “whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Avoid giving offense…” Jesus our Lord lived obediently to God’s will and did all things for His glory. As his followers, we should be eager to imitate him, that is to live for God, to offend no one but rather keep good relationships with each other.

We live in an era where, not only individualism and selfishness have enslaved man, but the gaps have grown bigger with the actual pandemic. People are exhorted to live in isolation, with social distancing, self-quarantine, facemask, face shield, no physical contacts, hidden behind screens. It is said that the greatest expression of love today is to keep a distance from each other to avoid contamination. We are like lepers living away from others. We see each other as ‘unclean’ and potential virus bearer. We no longer give signs of peace at mass, no hugs, no hand greetings… And sadly, we rely more on vaccines than on God and our faith in him. That is how the world is going today.

Nevertheless, in this situation, as Christians, we are urged to keep Christ as a model. Though we may keep physical and social distancing from others, let our love for each other never grow distant and vanish. Though we are banned to visit others, let us not exclude or outcast them. We should reinvent the Christian values and the message of the Gospel of Christ amid this pandemic. Socially distant, but not selfish, neither cold hearted. Let’s feel deep concern and compassion for the needy just as Jesus had compassion for the leper and healed him. Genuine love we know, knows no distancing, no isolation, no quarantine, no mask. For, it is not hypocritical. Love is openness, mutual concern, and sacrifice for others. That is what Jesus did for us, that is what we should do while willing to imitate him. Let’s reinvent love in the midst of this pandemic for God keeps no social distancing from he who truly loves.