This weekend at Catholic mass you will hear, in the New Testament reading, a bit of Paul's letter to the people of the church established in Corinth. His message was simple: be a good person, treat all people fairly, live like Christ taught. Yes, love your neighbor as yourself.
The Old Testament reading is from Book of Leviticus; written long before Christ was born, it's name refers to the tribe of Levi. This book is loaded with instructions on how to live from day-to-day; primarily, laws governing personal property and how to handle problems or conditions of the body. It instructs priests and marked them, at that time, as judges and doctors of the body as well as the soul. It gives detailed instructions on what each person should do if they have a medical question; what the priest should do to determine if the condition is permanent or transient. Of course, the selection we read today has to do with the primary disease of that day, leprosy.
The Gospel reading is from Mark's work. It recounts how Jesus cured a man of leprosy. In so many words, Jesus refers to the Book of Leviticus in His instructions to the leper. During the cure, Jesus is said by Mark to have had pity on the leper. He cured the man because he had pity on him.
A leper in those days was not only sick but poor, unloved, ostracized from the community. It was the law; Lepers had to live apart - had little chance of doing any work for money. It was a miserable existence. In today's terms, this man would not necessarily have been a sick person. I think Jesus was showing us the way - the way to find pity and give help to the poor, the unloved, the outcasts. Think about that today.
Let it be! Have a blessed weekend. I love you.
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