26th JUNE.FRIDAY IN WEEK 12

1.Genesis 17:1,9 9-10, 15-22

2.Matthew 8:1-4

REFLECTIONS AND MEDITATIONS

The law beyond all laws

In our societies/ communities we have got laws as the reference for observing the norms of the society. However some laws are to be kept and others are to be disregarded in certain circumstances. This is clearly manifested when Jesus cured the man suffered from contagious skin disease popularly known as ‘leprosy’. After Jesus cured he reminded him, “See to it that you tell no one. Go and show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses prescribed.”(Mt 8:4). The gift to be offered was very small but it had rich theological meaning that it served to show that the leprosy victim was welcomed back to the community that formally separated him due to his/her predicament. The leper also in this context would also be allowed to embark into the temple again after couple of years of enforced absence. The victim would sense a regain of self-respect, and dignity and thus there would be great rejoicing in the offering of his gift.

Once upon a time, my formal philosophy professor Fr. Brian Cronin,the Holy ghost missionary priest said “laws are made for the guidance of the wise and for the observance of fool”. However, some laws can be disregarded for good reason. According to the Jewish tradition by that time, it was forbidden for a devout and pious Jew to come into contact with the person legally unclean as said in the gospel about the man suffering from leprosy asking Jesus to cure him. In Jewish context, lepers were among the most unclean, and were untouchables. On hearing the leper’s passionate plea, “Sir if you want to, you can cure me!” Jesus having been moved by the compassionate spirit, he decided to set aside traditional taboos and rituals and stretched out his hand and touched the leper and finally cured him. We learn a lesson from this gospel scenario that what separates us from the love of God, from being compassionate towards others regardless of their predicaments as Jesus was compassionate to the leper? In this perspective we have got many answers, one of them is that we are confronted with tribalism, religiosity, nationalism, political patronage, political affiliations, secularism, and family ties. When trying to summarize all above factors mentioned above, it is undeniable fact that we may also find ourselves in a situation not far from that of the leper. These are factors that are so influential in our societies and religious communities to an extent that some of our brothers and sisters found themselves separated apart from the rest. Let us have this in mind that the mercy and love of God can be communicated in a sign that cannot be known in our own languages, however, Jesus communicated the love and mercy of God in a sign that spoke more eloquently than mere words, he touched the man and made him clean both physically and spiritually.

The law of compassion is supreme above other laws. The aim of other laws is to fulfill the law of compassion, if they seem to be contrary to the law of compassion, thus they are there to meet one’s self demands and not others welfare. The law once it exists, it has to promote the welfare of all without discrimination. The laws should be kept in the spirit of their origin, which is the merciful goodness of God.

Who are lepers of our time? Thanks be to God that nowadays leprosy is no longer an incurable disease, it has got treatment. Nevertheless, this can be contextualized in our time, that who are the lepers of time, and what is the leper of our time? If we can list, we may come up with infinite lists of leprosy in our time. There is spiritual leprosy whereby we find that some Christians even up today have not yet experienced the presence of Jesus in their lives, some do not even receive the sacraments more especially the sacrament of reconciliation etc. Personally I have experienced those people who have been stigmatized on the basis of their situations, for example I have seen that in most of African families, brothers and sisters who suffer from terminal illness, like H.I.V, cancer, and other incurable physical ailments found themselves separated from their families. It is the time for us all to embark in today’s gospel, and take Jesus as our model in interacting with those seem to be isolated by their families, societies/communities under the basis of their predicaments. We are all invited to learn a lesson from today’s gospel about healing. There various kinds of healing, that is spiritual, physical and psychological healing. In venturing ourselves in all these modes of healing, we shall have done a lot in bringing our brothers and sisters who have given up hope because of being separated/ eliminated from their society due to their unpleasant situations.

The gospels reveal Jesus who is not selective, who does not hesitate to touch our lives, even the most unpleasant and unattractive parts of our lives. In submission, when we welcome Jesus, we should let him touch the most hidden part of our lives. In our lives at times we tend hide some parts of our personal concern as well as community concern, yet in this context we are told that Jesus is there to help us to come out of places that seem to be unattractive. The practical example to this is in the sacrament of confession whereby some feel shy to mention some of their sins thinking that they will be ashamed and their sins will not be forgiven, actually this is the distorted thinking. A priest giving the sacrament of confession is there in the Person of Jesus,( Persona christi capitis) and it is under this back ground that the person confessing his/her sins is obliged to mention all his/her sins in order to ask the mercy of God. Quoting the words of Pope Francis in his encyclical “The Joy of the gospel” he says “ the confession box should not be the place to torment people, rather it should be the place whereby people will feel the mercy of God.” Thus it is a call to each one of us to invite Jesus and empty ourselves in order that Jesus may touch the hidden parts of our lives and finally be in communion with him.