Gospel Reflection of 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Sunday 11th February 2018

It is interesting to observe the different ways people are healed throughout the Gospels. We see, for example, the woman who suffered for 12 years with a bleeding haemorrhage; she had faith enough to believe that if she could just touch the cloak of Jesus she would be healed. There is also the story (to which St. John dedicates an entire chapter of his Gospel) about the man who was born blind; on this occasion Jesus spat on the ground, and making a clay out of his saliva, rubbed it on the eyes of the blind man. Strange as that may sound, the man miraculously received the gift of sight. There are, of course, many other examples of people who are transformed – physically and spiritually – through their encounter with Christ. Yet, I think this week’s Gospel reading is particularly important in how it  demonstrates the healing “touch” of Jesus.

Lepers were considered “unclean”, and thus exiled from the communities in which they lived. In fact, the Israelite people were forbidden by law to touch any person with such a disease. And yet we see that when this leper gets down on his knees and pleads before Jesus, our Lord stretches out his hand and touches him. Nobody else would have dared to do such a thing. We can only imagine when this lonely outcast last felt the physical touch of another person. But Jesus reaches out in love and shows that he is not afraid to come in contact with the man’s suffering. Jesus is also showing by his actions that he is not afraid of the law, or what ‘people might think’ of him. Jesus doesn’t look at the man’s disease or the ills within the society around him; he looks directly at the person.

By instituting the sacrament of the Blessed Eucharist, Jesus fulfils the promise that he will be with us always, even to the end of the age (Mt. 28:20). When we receive our Lord in Holy Communion we invite him into the depths of our soul, allowing him to “touch” those parts of our lives that are most in need of healing. “Lord, I’m not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.” As Jesus stretched out and touched the leper, so too he reaches out and works miracles to each person who comes before him in prayer.  All he asks is that our hearts be open to receive his healing touch.