Father Thomas Welbers' Homily	Jump back to Homily Index
Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, February 16, 2003 Leviticus 13:1-2, 44-46 1 Corinthians 10:31-11:1 Mark 1:40-45	Listen to Audio

The first reading from the Old Testament book of Leviticus is especially repulsive, not only for its graphic and gory description of a variety of skin conditions going under the generic name of “leprosy,” but also for its apparent lack of compassion for innocent victims of disease over which they had no control.

The book of Leviticus, the third book of the Torah, or sacred books of the Jewish Old Testament Law, concentrates on those things that were deemed essential for the preservation of society.  Of course it makes good sense that any illness that could be highly contagious and cannot be readily cured has to be quarantined.  Yet there is something dreadfully inhuman about a quarantine, and I think it’s this: When our total concentration is on self-protection, we lose the very qualities that make us human.  We reduce ourselves to the level of what we are trying to protect ourselves from.

Notice in the Gospel reading we just heard that we are still very close to the beginning of St. Mark’s Gospel.  This cleansing of the leper concludes chapter one.  And it is the first thing that Jesus did that began to infuriate the “authorities” – the Scribes and Pharisees, those who place the letter of the law above everything else.  And what did Jesus do that got them so upset?  He stretched out his hand and touched the leper.  It was actions like this that eventually won him the death penalty!

There is a real danger in touching the “untouchable.”  Yet the response of Jesus to that danger was not an analysis of the risks involved, but, as the Gospel says, “he was moved with compassion.”

If we look at the world situation today, and if we look at some of the situations on our very doorstep, we find many dangers, many reasons to retreat into secure fortresses or strike pre-emptively against possible threats.  And if we are willing to respond to the frequently-asked question, “What would Jesus do?” by looking at what Jesus actually did, we would find his response very different from that of the Old Testament law of Leviticus, and very different from the “wisdom” that guides the leaders of the world’s most powerful nation.

Jesus overcame fear and threat of harm by allowing himself to be moved with compassion.  Jesus confronted the evil before him by reaching out and touching the leper.  It takes compassion to risk oneself on behalf of others.  “Compassion,” it has been said, “is the sometimes fatal capacity for feeling what it’s like to live inside somebody else’s skin. It is the knowledge that there can never really be any peace and joy and healing for me until there is peace and joy and healing finally for you too.

©2003 Thomas Welbers