Restoring Life through Restoring Dignity!

Thursday, January 11, 2024

1 Sam 4:1-11; Mk 1:40-45

Today’s Gospel helps us reflect on the faith of the leper and Jesus’ initiative to heal him. 

The faith of the leper: The leper’s attitude demonstrates his faith in Jesus. He submits to the power of the Son of God by imploring and kneeling before Jesus for healing. After the miracle, the leper ‘disobeys’ Jesus and spreads his fame and glory. Before the healing miracle, the leper demonstrates an attitude of surrender. After the healing, he manifests his gratitude through his tireless praise for Jesus. The leper’s attitude of surrender becomes the reason for his gratitude through the healing. He teaches us the magic of surrendering ourselves to the Lord to witness blessings for which we will remain grateful to God. 

The healing from Jesus: Jesus’ attitude toward the leper is a model for imitation. Here, it is good to remember that in those days, a leper was a social outcast and was deprived of communion with mainstream society. However, Jesus’ attitude toward the leper reveals love, care, and respect. Though Jesus could have healed him remotely, he cares for the leper by ‘touching’ him. Here, Jesus disregards any notion of defilement that prevented others from reaching out to the leper. Instead, Jesus honors the leper with a touch that any other person would have received from him. For Jesus, the leper is still a person with God-given dignity. Jesus does not just mean respect but also social communion. 

The leper was ‘dead’ to society. Jesus gave his life back. For Jesus, restoring someone’s dignity is equivalent to restoring the person’s life.  

Let us pray that Jesus’ disposition and initiative may inform our pastoral vision and mission.

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar