THE EXCHANGE

Meditation for 6^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
(Lev 13:1-2, 44-46; 1 Cor 10:31-11:1; Mk 1:40-45)

The first reading of today gives a pitiable description of a leprous man; he has a swollen skin, and must wear torn clothes with unkempt hair and cover his upper lips. “He is unclean; the priest must pronounce him unclean.” We see a movement from the medical description of the condition of the man, up to his spiritual or religious status in relation to God and the community. Leprosy as a contagious disease would definitely make the community ‘unhealthy.’ And if a man is in a ‘state’ that would not build up the community of God’s people or makes free association and worship possible, then his ‘state’ has more than a medical implication! “Then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priest.” Once declared UNCLEAN by the priest, “He shall dwell alone in a habitation outside the camp.”

We see immediately why sin is likened to leprosy; it makes a man unclean and sets him outside the habitation of grace! Sin breeds selfishness, destroys love and hinders true worship of God. We can begin to understand why the people of old believed that sin was the cause of leprosy; “His disease is on his head.”

In the Gospel of today, Jesus continues to move down to the villages, to the outer part of the towns and cities. It is obvious He stepped forward to the region of the outcasts and downtrodden. Thus, it became possible for the leper to kneel before him, begging, “If you will, you can make clean.” The man surrendered his sickness and his UNCLEAN condition to Jesus. “Moved with pity, He stretched out His hand and touched him, and said, ‘I will; be clean.’” Imagine the clean and glorious hand of Jesus touching the unclean man! By this gesture, the man’s burden of leprosy is no more ‘on his head’ but on the shoulders of Jesus... Again, think about what it means for the will of man to coincide with the will of God! This is where our spiritual or religious status is upright, righteousness is restored and every defilement washed clean.

As the man was healed and cleansed, Jesus said to him, “Show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to the people.” With Jesus the duty of the priest is re-defined: to reconciled people to God and to one another, and present to God the THANKSGIVING (Eucharistic) offering. The witness of the man brought many people to Jesus, such that He could no longer openly enter the town, but EXCHANGED positions with the man as He stayed outside the city. We too are called to bring people to salvation by reaching out to them as Jesus did to the leprous man, and by witnessing as the cleansed man did to Jesus. We do this by not seeking our advantage in everything, but by working for the common good and the good of many. Thus, we become ambassadors of the divine touch that has saved us by Jesus’ SACRIFICIAL EXCHANGE; this is the Eucharistic touch we proclaim today. Amen.

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church,
Tedi-Muwo, Lagos.
Sunday February 14^th, 2021.
Valentine’s Day
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