![\"File:A](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/1\/10\/A_portrait_of_a_young_man%2C_William_Taylor%2C_looking_in_a_mirror_Wellcome_V0015884.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nFrom The First Reading<\/strong><\/p>\n The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, \u201cIf a swelling or scab or spot appears on someone\u2019s skin, which could develop into a contagious skin-disease, that person must then be taken to the priest, either Aaron or one of his sons. If the person has such a disease: he is unclean. The priest will\u00a0declare him unclean; he has a contagious skin-disease of the head. Anyone with a contagious skin-disease will wear torn clothing and disordered hair; and will cover the upper lip and shout, \u2018Unclean, unclean.\u2019 As long as the disease lasts, such a person will be unclean and, being unclean, will live alone and live outside the camp.\u201d Leviticus 13:1-2.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u00a0From The Second Reading<\/strong><\/p>\n A man suffering from a virulent skin-disease came to him and pleaded on his knees saying, \u201cIf you are willing, you can cleanse me.\u201d Feeling sorry for him, Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him and said to him, \u201cI am willing. Be cleansed.\u201d And at once the skin-disease left him and he was cleansed. And at once Jesus sternly sent him away. Mark 1:40-43<\/em>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n And so on this Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, I learned something new.<\/p>\n Something that I had never known before about leprosy.<\/p>\n But also something that helped me to see people a little differently.<\/p>\n And\u00a0a little more clearly.<\/p>\n First, let\u2019s briefly review the physical disease.<\/p>\n What some have referred to in these passages as \u201cleprosy\u201d \u2013 that hideous, face and limb disfiguring affliction that we today more properly call Hansen\u2019s <\/em>disease \u2013 was perhaps\u00a0not leprosy at all.<\/p>\n Our celebrant made clear that many modern scholars have now so opined based upon more accurate translations of the original Hebrew and Greek writings, as well as upon a\u00a0closer scientific look at the disease itself.<\/p>\n Unlike what we now know about Hansen\u2019s, the diseases referred to in these passages were considered highly contagious.<\/p>\n Moreover, there are no biblical descriptions of \u201crotting limbs, hardened skin, loss of feeling, or grotesquely deformed faces<\/a>\u201d which are more typically associated with Hansen\u2019s. And, historically, \u201cthe contorted skeletal damage that characterizes Hansen\u2019s disease was not found in human remains in Israel until well after the time of the Old Testament<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Finally, other \u201csources such as the Talmud<\/i> (Sifra 63) make clear that tzaraath<\/i> refers to various types of lesions or stains associated with ritual impurity and occurring on cloth, leather, or houses, as well as skin<\/a>.<\/em>\u201c* All these combined, the likelihood is that when reference is made to \u201cleprosy\u201d occurring in biblical times \u2013 and those references are made quite often \u2013 we are more likely seeing some other outward appearing, ritually impure <\/em>skin affliction that may have even healed over time.<\/p>\n It\u2019s likely, then,\u00a0that some blotch or stain appeared on the surface of the person\u2019s skin that\u00a0not only\u00a0rendered him ritually unclean<\/em>, but was also capable of quickly spreading to others within close proximity. Now, whether\u00a0one interprets this as purely a physical manifestation or as an analogy for\u00a0sin, the need for an immediate separation makes complete sense. For\u00a0that one instance of vulnerability could easily infect many others and could cause\u00a0them to fall away in very short order.<\/p>\n And, finally, observe that the admonition to separate\u00a0from the camp lasted only\u00a0\u201cas long as the disease<\/em> [itself] lasts<\/em>.\u201d Again, this could refer\u00a0either to a physical healing or to an atonement for sin. In the latter case, then,\u00a0Christ\u2019s cleansing<\/em> can easily be seen as both a supernatural physical healing and\u00a0<\/em>as a spiritual forgiveness.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Now here\u2019s where our celebrant took us just a bit further.<\/p>\n He taught that these passages can also be seen, quite literally, to be about surface appearances.<\/p>\n They reflect how we see others. And how they see us.<\/p>\n In\u00a0short, they may enlighten us about\u00a0our superficial differences.<\/p>\n Differences that keep us separate and apart from one another other.<\/p>\n But that\u2019s not to say that these passages\u00a0aren\u2019t themselves meaningful or deep.<\/p>\n They are.<\/p>\n For they serve as important reminders.<\/p>\n A reminder\u00a0that we are all vulnerable.<\/p>\n A reminder that we\u00a0all suffer from\u00a0multiple, hidden\u00a0afflictions.<\/p>\n A reminder that we really are all the same \u2013 if just a bit below the surface<\/em>.<\/p>\n And a\u00a0reminder that we are all in need of unmerited grace and unconditional\u00a0healing.<\/p>\n It\u2019s just that some of us\u00a0are better\u00a0equipped than others\u00a0to conceal our human\u00a0frailties, and\u00a0our potentially devastating vulnerabilities. Some of us\u00a0can more easily hide behind a clean fa\u00e7ade, an opaque surface, an impenetrable wall.<\/p>\n In our best suit, and our finest shoes, we may well appear to be miles apart from that homeless, dirty, smelly\u00a0man on the street we just passed by.<\/p>\n But we have to ask ourselves:<\/p>\n Are his obvious addictions to alcohol and drugs \u2013 the very addictions which may have brought him to his knees on this street corner, the addictions that we can all\u00a0see\u00a0\u2013 are they really so different from\u00a0our own\u00a0well-hidden addictions?<\/p>\n Are they really any less devastating?<\/p>\n Our hidden addictions may be money, tobacco, pornography, ego, or\u00a0anger.<\/p>\n Can we really then say that our hearts,\u00a0our minds,\u00a0our bodies are not being similarly destroyed?<\/p>\n Yes, he may be the one with who appears in public with\u00a0the obvious stain.<\/p>\n He may be the one whom we have\u00a0declared unclean<\/em>.<\/p>\n He may be the one\u00a0who has been separated from us.<\/p>\n And so we\u00a0might easily\u00a0convince ourselves that we are not like him at all.<\/p>\n Because we look so\u00a0damn respectable to the world.<\/p>\n But here\u2019s the thing:<\/p>\n We, too, are the sick.<\/p>\n We, too, are the elderly.<\/p>\n We, too, are the disabled.<\/p>\n We, too, are the vulnerable.<\/p>\n We, too, are\u00a0in need of healing.<\/p>\n And we, too,\u00a0are jerks \u2013 more times than we may care to admit.<\/p>\n Scratch just below the surface of any one\u00a0of us and you\u2019ll see that.<\/p>\n No, we aren\u2019t any different from the others.<\/p>\n No different at all from\u00a0those whom we<\/em> have\u00a0called unclean.<\/p>\n Not even if we show up\u00a0in our little corner of the world\u00a0looking all pristine, clean, respectable, and . . .\u00a0marvelous.<\/p>\n Because we<\/em>,\u00a0too, are\u00a0them.<\/p>\n Peace<\/p>\n _____________<\/p>\n * More from Wikipedia: \u201cMany English translations of the Bible translate tzaraath as \u201cleprosy,\u201d a confusion that derives from the use of the koine\u00a0cognate \u201c\u039b\u03ad\u03c0\u03c1\u03b1\u201d (which can mean any disease causing scaly skin) in the Septuagint.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Photo Credit Here<\/a> (Wikimedia Commons): Wellcome Library, London. Wellcome Images images@wellcome.ac.uk http:\/\/wellcomeimages.org<\/a> A portrait of a young man, William Taylor, looking in a mirror. Etching by T. Worlige, 1751, after himself. 1751 By: Thomas Worlidge Published: 1751<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" From The First Reading The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, \u201cIf a swelling or scab or spot appears on someone\u2019s skin, which could develop into a contagious skin-disease, that person must then be taken to the priest, either Aaron or one of his sons. If the person has such a disease: he is unclean. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1976,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n