Sixth Sunday Ordinary Time
February 11, 2018
Leviticus 13;1-2,44-46
1Corinthians 10:31-11.1
Mark 1:40-45
Today, we celebrate the 6th Sunday of Ordinary Time.
Today, we celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes.
Today, we celebrate the visiting of the sick.
As we celebrate theses 3 feasts, we take into account the readings, which speak to us of people who were outcast in their family, in society and in their Church.
They are the forgotten people, the little ones, the poor, the sick, the wounded, who needed healing, compassion, community, to be loved.
In the first reading from Leviticus, Moses is giving the rules for a person who has leprosy.
It was a terrible situation, the people were segregated, condemned by society and religious communities, outcast, deprived, lived on the margin of society, declared impure, thought to be rejected by God, sinners. Does this sound like situations in our world today. Reflect!!!
We are saved by the Gospel, a leper comes, kneels before Jesus, a sign of humility and asks to be healed but with the attitude of the poor, if you want... He does’t force Jesus to heal him.
But Jesus responds only as Jesus can because He is a person of compassion and love (of course ) I want too.
It is when we can see the other with compassion and love, we are truly Jesus for one another.
I had the opportunity to go to a leper colony a few times, here in the Dominican Republic and even though it was years ago I will never forget the people, disfigured, fingers, toes gone etc.
Yet, as I spoke with them, they were so grateful for the visit, their smiles were unforgettable. My heart was in my stomach and it took some time and many prayers to help me through the situation, but in my heart I was grateful to have had the experience.
Today, in our world, city, neighborhood, let us reflect on how we treat one another.
Let us remember before God WE are welcomed, secure, loved. Let us help others to have the same experience.
-Sister Rose Ann