Road to Emmaus Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time

Feb 11, 2009

(Cycle B)

First Reading – Lev. 13:1-2, 44-46

Responsorial Psalm – Ps. 32:1-2, 5, 11

Second Reading – 1 Cor. 10:31-11:1

Gospel Reading – Mk. 1:40-45

This Sunday we have an obvious connection between the Old Testament reading and the passage from the Gospel of Mark - they both deal with the skin disease of leprosy.

Leprosy in the Old Testament

As we learn from the reading of Leviticus, contracting the disease of leprosy was pretty serious. Acquiring this disease had several effects:

1. There is the obvious effect of simply having the disease and the physical discomforts that would have to be endured.

2. A leper was declared by the priest to be ritually unclean (cf. Lev. 13:4). Being ritually unclean had the dramatic effect of separating the leper from the proper covenant worship of God in the tabernacle and then later in the Temple.

3. The leper would have to wear garments that were torn and would have to shave his or her head. When anyone else was around lepers would have to shout out that they were unclean. Finally, they would dwell apart from the community (cf. Lev. 13:45-46). This had the effect of separating them from all others except other lepers.

4. If someone touched a leper he or she would become ritually unclean.

To summarize, leprosy carried with it physical suffering, the social suffering of being separated from the larger community, including family and friends, and the spiritual suffering of not being able to enter into the presence of God and offer him the proper worship in the tabernacle and Temple.

In addition if a clean person touched the leper, the clean person would become ritually unclean, and would have to undergo a purification rite, not to mention the possibility of contracting the disease.

It must be made clear, however, that having leprosy, and being ritually unclean, did not necessarily mean that the lepers had done anything morally wrong. Nevertheless, leprosy did come to represent sin and its effects. We will look at this more below in relation to the New Testament.

Let’s look at an example of leprosy representing sin.

King David prays after his sins of adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband Uriah the Hittite. There are a few points of correlation between leprosy and sin as found in David’s prayer of repentance.

1. Playing off the imagery of leprosy, which in its advanced stages made the skin as white as snow (cf. Ex. 4:6), King David prays, "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow" (Ps. 51:7). When someone was found to be without leprosy the rite of purification involved hyssop (cf. Lev. 14:4, 6).

2. When one had leprosy, it was necessary to cover his or her face. But David begs God to "Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities" (Ps. 51:9).

(Column continues below)

3. As we saw earlier, lepers had to be separated from the presence of the Lord in the tabernacle and Temple, yet David prays, "Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit" (Ps. 51:11-12).

4. The leper had to walk around declaring himself unclean. But David prays, "O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will show forth your praise" (Ps. 51:15).

Sin is a spiritual leprosy. In the Old Testament, God had to let them discover their real situation - they are in sin.

Jesus and the leper

This background of the Old Testament sheds light on what is happening when this leper seeks out Jesus.

First, as Mary Healy notes in her commentary, The Gospel of Mark, "By approaching Jesus, this leper makes a bold move" (52). He was supposed to cry out "Unclean! Unclean!" But, Healy continues, "He kneels, a sign of both reverence and supplication" (52).

The leper then begs Jesus, "If you will, you can make me clean" (Mk. 1:41). Healy comments, "Significantly, he does not ask Jesus to heal him but to make him clean. His deepest desire is to be free once again to partake in the worship of God’s people" (52-3). Wow! What holy motivation!

What is Jesus’ next move? Does he run in the other direction so as to not become ritually unclean himself? Remember, if someone came into contact with a leper he or she would become unclean. However, "Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to the leper, ‘I will; be clean’" (Mk. 1:41). Jesus purposefully touches the leper. In order to make him clean he does not just say, "Be clean," when he certainly could have. He deliberately reaches out to touch him.

So, what happens to the leper? "And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean" (Mk. 1:42). What then happens to Jesus? He does not become ritually unclean.

Jesus, respecting the Law of Moses, then instructs the man to show himself to the priest and undergo what Moses commanded in Leviticus, "…for a proof to the people" (Mk. 1:44).

Jesus also tells the man to say nothing to anyone about this. The man does not listen but decides to "talk freely about it…so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town…" (Mk. 1:45). Mary Healy recognizes, "Ironically, Jesus has now taken on himself the leper’s previous status: the healed man is free to return to human society, but Jesus must remain outside in the deserted places…" (54).

With regard to leprosy representing sin, the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible on Matthew says, quoting St. Augustine, "Jesus’ cleansing of the leper signifies the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Leprosy represents mortal sin, the spiritual disease that extinguishes grace from the soul and impedes one’s full participation in the Church. This condition can also be contagious and influence others through scandal and false contrition. The Levitical priest typifies New Covenant priests, who are instrumental in reconciling sinners with God and restoring them to spiritual health through the sacrament" (30).

If we find ourselves with the spiritual leprosy of mortal sin, let us too present ourselves to the priest in order that we might be restored to spiritual health and be once again united to the community, and more importantly united with the Trinity through the infusion of sacramental grace.