The more things change the more they remain the same/"plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose" (French proverb, Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, Les Guêpes, January 1849).
Have times really changed? …Have we? …How do we treat each other?
It’s the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens who exposed the hypocrisy of the Victorian Era’s rigid class society. He wrote ….
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair….in short, the period was so far like … the present period. Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities; English novelist (1812 - 1870)
Let’s look at ourselves a bit deeper…. in the 21st century:
A congregation gathered in the narthex & talked for a few minutes including some gossip about the man lying outside. But, no one went out to ask him to come in from … the cold let alone take him a cup of coffee.
As the prelude began the congregation herded to the sanctuary & waited for the processional. When the church doors opened, in shuffled the homeless man. A stunned gasp was loosed & faces made as he shambled up the aisle head down, making a bee-line for the pulpit. When he turned & took off his coat & hat, the hearts of the people sank as they recognized their pastor. No one said a word. The preacher took his Bible & opened it saying,
“Folks, I don’t have to tell you what I am preaching about today.”
“If you choose you can make me clean.” Source Unknown
A missionary in East Africa was approached by a young boy from one of the local tribes. He asked, “Was Jesus a white man or a black man?” After thinking for a while, the missionary said that while he was on earth, Jesus lived in a very warm climate. So, she told the boy “Jesus wasn’t white or black but sort of in between the two. He was probably kind of brown.” “Oh,” said the little boy with delight,
… “then he belongs to both of us, doesn’t he?” (Celebration, 2/2/12)
The missionary underscored one of the qualities of Jesus that is so clear in today’s Gospel: Jesus, who incarnated the love of God among us, was/is so invested in the human condition that he was all things to all people, even untouchables! He was approachable to all people, even lepers.
And that’s the problem! Let’s take a closer look at he gospel….
The leper was the living dead - isolated, despised, & condemned to stay far away from others & from God! The leper should not approach Jesus, but he did. Jesus should not have allowed him to come near, but he does. 2 Both have violated the law.
The faith of the leper & the love of Jesus make the good news a reality.
Leprosy was considered a divine punishment. The lepers were pitied but feared due to the danger of contagion. Once the disease was declared, the leper had to stay away form the people & live apart: shouting, “Unclean!”
This is the physical aspect. This goes much deeper.
Sometimes we consider that there are people who are morally sick & we must stay away. That, “tell me who you hang with & I will tell you who you are” becomes very, very real. Have you created a “leper”?
And, have you ever been the “leper”?
Historically, there have always been outcasts of some kind. Some consider themselves superior to others either: morally, physically or culturally. And there has always been certain apprehension toward various diseases (AIDS).Often the “healthy” feel superior & therefore can allow themselves the benefit, without doing anything morally wrong, to remove themselves from the sick/outcast. They feel that they are protecting themselves & their families. Where is the reasonable & logical basis for such an attitude?
It appears that Jesus does not find it because he acts in a very different manner. He does not judge, does not consider that illness is a consequence of sin & touches the person to heal them both physically & socially.
What are we to make of all this, this compassion at the expense of law? People who are intent on keeping the law -which is a good thing- generally acquire virtues, which are also good things as long as … we remember that virtues are not rules of conduct for a special case, but habitual attitudes toward situations in general.
Moreover, even Jesus was not saved by doing good, but by loving his Father. So, here’s the bottom line for virtue-seekers:
God has seen it all;
God is not impressed with anything except a good death.
God’s goodness is not moral; it is holy.
(some ideas, Celebration, 2/12/12)
And so, at this Liturgy of God’s Compassion, let us remember that God’s greatest demand is not law, but love. Even with God, the law binds everyone indifferently, while love binds each one personally. Saint Augustine got it right. “Love and do whatever you want.” But many of us do not love well enough to take that chance. So Paul’s advice to imitate Christ is not so bad after all. We are free to flow with God’s Spirit only after we have walked after God’s Son….
“If you choose you can make me clean.”
Choose wisely my friends.