Swift

“There came a man full of leprosy; and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and besought him, ‘Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.’” (Luke 5:12).

Jesus Healing (Arthur Robbins)

Leprosy is a terrible disease.  In the western world we hardly ever see it and if we did, a person affected by the disease would simply take some antibiotics to keep the disease under control and life would go on.

In the developing world this disease is far more devastating.  People affected by this disease are often left untreated.  Poor hygiene due to extreme poverty and poor infrastructure means that the disease can spread rapidly.  And this disease – even today – leads to terrible disfiguration and ultimately death.

One of the hallmarks of this disease is that it causes ulceration of the skin.  This ulceration smells quite terrible as the flesh slowly decays on the person’s body.  Not only is there a terrible smell, there is a terrible fear of the disease as people do not wish to catch it and therefore become infected with it.

This fear was even worse during the time of Christ.  During this time there was no understanding at all about the disease.  And because the priority was to keep the infected people away from the healthy population, a diagnosis of leprosy meant that people were swiftly isolated from the population.  They would have to be completely covered from head to toe.  They could not come close to other people and were forced to live separately from the rest of society.

This is why when Christ healed the lepers, it was not a mere physical healing – it was a spiritual one as well.  This healing meant that people could re-enter the society that had previously been denied to them…

“There came a man full of leprosy; and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and besought him, ‘Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.’ And he stretched out his hand, and touched him, saying, ‘I will; be clean.’ And immediately the leprosy left him. And he charged him to tell no one; but ‘go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as Moses commanded, for a proof to the people.’” (Luke 5:12-16).

How swift Christ was in that miracle.  He was asked and he acted.  And just like that the man was healed…

It is the same with the sacraments…  We are asked to show our wounds to Christ in the sacraments and swiftly Christ forgives and heals us…

And I have been thinking about that today as I have been thinking about the isolation of my sins.  For it seems to me that I am not as penitent as the leper.  For the leper went to Christ – exposing all – with utter humility and asked to be healed.  And here I sit thinking to myself that I have somehow managed to trick my God into thinking that I am good.  How terrible a sin it is to be proud in front of the Creator of the Universe.  How terrible a sin and how much I must pray for the Grace to resist the temptation and to follow the example of the leper.  For my Beloved is waiting to heal me swiftly…

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.