From Sunday's first reading: " "The one who bears the sore of leprosy shall keep his garments rent and his head bare, and shall muffle his beard; he shall cry out, 'Unclean, unclean!' As long as the sore is on him he shall declare himself unclean, since he is in fact unclean. He shall dwell apart, making his abode outside the camp."
Sunday's gospel: "A leper came to Jesus and kneeling down begged him and said, 'If you wish, you can make me clean.' Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched him, and said to him, 'I do will it. Be made clean.' The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean. Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once. He said to him, 'See that you tell no one anything, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them.' The man went away and began to publicize the whole matter. He spread the report abroad so that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly. He remained outside in deserted places, and people kept coming to him from everywhere."
The identity of Jesus is one of the key motifs that run throughout the entire gospel of Mark. Eventually, we discover that those who are marginalized - the sick, the sinner, the suffering, those without power or authority - recognize Jesus the messiah, the son of God (Mk 1:1), even as regular synagogue attendees, the Pharisees, even the disciples, do not. Why? Because they see Jesus as the way in which they can be healed and returned to wholeness, the wholeness of being returned to community. This leper, who was to live apart from others, was bold enough to not be apart, to put himself in Jesus's path, and seek healing. Jesus, in turn, was bold enough to touch and heal.
Do you ever wonder why students surround you, seek you out, talk to you about things beyond tomorrow's assignment? Because they see you as "ambassadors and ministers of Jesus Christ", acting in his name and with authority from him (De La Salle, Med. 195.2). They see you as agents of Christ's healing, wholeness, and relationship. How do you respond in boldness?
The season of Lent gives us an opportunity to turn our lives even more to God. Let us pray that, as part of our own Lenten journeys of reformation, our bold response will be as the late Father Theodore Hesburgh, CSC, described:
The way we put our lives in God's service . . . is to belong to the people God brings into our lives. That is what Jesus did. He belonged to the people his Father brought into his life, and thus the poor, the downtrodden, and the outcast all felt they could make a claim on Jesus and his love. As his disciples, we are called to belong to others as Jesus did, so that they, too, can make a claim on our love. In this way, our lives bring the hope of salvation to others and become prayers in service of our Heavenly Father." (in Gawrych, The Gift of the Cross)
Live, Jesus, in our hearts!