It happened that there was a man full of leprosy in one of the towns where Jesus was; and when he saw Jesus, he fell prostrate, pleaded with him, and said, “Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.” Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, “I do will it. Be made clean.”
Leprosy normally starts off as a small white patch. According to Jewish law, a person with a white sore must show it to a priest. If the priest was uncertain about it, the person would be quarantined for seven days. At the conclusion of the seventh day, the individual would be re-examined. If the white patch had grown or spread, then that person would be expelled from the community, the community of the living, and be left to roam among the walking dead.
Back then, leprosy was a death sentence. But the horror of the disease did not come from any physical pain (in fact, while the disease gradually destroys the nervous system it eliminates the possibility of feeling any pain) but rather from an immense suffering associated with isolation, loneliness and abandonment. The disease not only left the person physically scared, it also produced psychological trauma.
A small white patch. Like leprosy, every sin starts off small. If it is not dealt with immediately, the problem will only continue to grow bigger and bigger. Very rarely does it go away on its own. Very rarely are we strong enough to handle it by ourselves.
Sins start off small. It almost always does. Little by little we lie more and more. Little by little we steal more and more. Little by little we flirt more and more. Most people don’t start off with hard drugs; they start off with soft drugs. Most teenagers don’t start looking at hardcore pornography; they start with soft porn. Most kids don’t start drinking in access; they steal a sip here and there.
I mentioned yesterday that Congress received horrible approval ratings, worse than head lice and cockroaches! But what I failed to mention is that they received greater praise than North Korea and Lindsay Lohan. Lindsay Lohan! Remember her?
Remember when she was the shining star at Disney? Remember how she was handpicked for her innocence, purity, charm and beauty? By the time she was sixteen, she was adored and loved by millions of fans. If twitter had existed back then, she would have had millions and millions of followers.
But the same people that fed her have killed her. The same people that stroked her ego have cracked it into a million pieces. And while her fans fanned her flames, her producer, promoter, and maybe even her own mother and father demanded that she deliver more.
Everyone loved to follow her while she was destroying herself. All the paparazzi surrounded her while she was inebriated, intoxicated and being incriminated. They finally stopped following her after everyone else was disgusted by her.
But who created her? Who took her innocence away? Who took her childhood away? Who took advantage of her to profit off of her?
In order for her to rise to the stars, her advisors stripped her of her humanity (limitations) and gave her a goddess appearance; that is, that there was nothing she could not do. Now that they used her and abused her, they have urinated all over her and left her as some disease infested woman.
This is what a secular society does to people. This is what communism did to their people. Communist nations were the first nations in the history of the world to declare themselves “God-Free” zones.
When he saw Jesus, he fell prostrate, pleaded with him, and said, “Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.” What makes Jesus truly God? His compassion and mercy. He never writes anyone off. He never sends anyone off. The Lord touched the man whose whole body was full of leprosy. He touched him and healed him. With one touch he welcomed him. With one touch he brought back his dignity. With one touch he gave him back his humanity. Then, he healed him.
Today, we should pray for each other; we should pray for all sinners.
Today, we should reach out to one another; we should reach out to everyone.
Today, we should help as many people as possible to get closer to the Lord.
Let’s put some skin and blood into it and help rid the world of those awful little white patches.
Father,
ReplyDeleteThank you for this interesting and thought provoking meditation.
-Katie
If a society is not secular, then there must be a religion that is in charge. In the Middle East, people live by the laws of Islam, and people who do not follow Islam are persecuted. If the United States was not secular, couldn't the same thing happen here? Even if Christianity was the official religion, it is a possibility that a Protestant may gain power and persecute people who are Catholic. Is there any non-secular country around today that is peaceful?
ReplyDelete"If a society is not secular, then there must be a religion that is in charge." Why?
ReplyDeleteOkay. I'm not saying that a secular government must be replaced by a religious government. I'm not saying we should go from a democracy to a theocracy. What I am saying is that our secular society should be replaced by a friendly society; that is, where the government, the media and the institutions do not insist on eliminating religion from the public square.
Hope that makes much more sense.
Yes, thank you. It seems as if some atheist organizations seems like that should happen, which is very unreasonable. I personally agree with your clarification. Everyone should be able to practice their religion without being told that they cannot. Obviously, atheists feel that they have the truth just like any religion does, but when they try to force religion out of society, saying that religion is ignorance and delusion, they are no better than a Christian or Muslim telling them to burn in hell.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. Every atheist who believes that religion is ignorance and delusion ignores the facts and deludes himself of reality. Extremely intelligent people believe in God just as much as extremely intelligent people do not believe in God. Like I said before: for every argument made against God, the very same argument can be made in favor of God; for every refutation of God, a similar argument can be made in favor of God. 50:50. I cannot speak for other religions, but a Christian knows better as to not judge but to speak Christ's truth. Let the Lord determine the rest.
Delete"our secular society should be replaced by a friendly society" Do you mean like everyone (govern, media, institutions, people in general) respecting each other regardless of their beliefs?
ReplyDeleteI mean everyone being able to express their belief. That to me means respect. If by respect you mean not criticizing...no. I don't mind someone criticizing my faith. I do mind it when I cannot even express it.
ReplyDeleteI should tell you that I am a Christian, but I am reading various religious blogs because I am passionate about learning about what people believe, and what brings them to their belief. Being able to discuss faith (or lack thereof) openly and coming to understand beliefs makes a much more stable society. There have been governments, such as under Stalin, that attempted to rid its entire society of religion. There have also been theocracies, such as the Muslim regimes that we see today. These societies have never thrived in the long run, if they ever did thrive at all. Atheists tend to say that religion should not influence public policy, but religion is a factor that determines people's values. There will always be arguments over certain issues, but perhaps those arguments are needed, otherwise one side will try to oppress the other. Atheists seem to be resisting the religious society, but now that society is becoming more secular the religious are pushing back. It would be nice if we all agreed on everything, but that just isn't human nature. It is good that in the United States we can all have an influence on our society. Hopefully it will always be that way.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your wonderful meditations, Father Alfonse!!
ReplyDelete