Feb 11, 2024 Homily: Fr Vigoa — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:04we have today one of the rare readings
2. 0:07from The Book of
3. 0:09Leviticus it's a good-sized book in the
4. 0:12Bible it's part of the pentet took but
5. 0:14we don't really read from it often it's
6. 0:18filled with particular regulations of
7. 0:21the law of Moses the that applied to the
8. 0:25Israelites but don't necessarily apply
9. 0:28to us anymore
10. 0:31today's reading is a good good example
11. 0:34of
12. 0:35that it spells out regulations for
13. 0:38dealing with the scourge of
14. 0:42leprosy well how a community is to deal
15. 0:46with this
16. 0:48problem but as we'll see leprosy is used
17. 0:51today as a
18. 0:53metaphor an image for something
19. 0:57else leprosy was a big deal back in the
20. 1:00ancient
21. 1:02times if you had
22. 1:04it if you happen to get it they just get
23. 1:08if you happen to get it today though
24. 1:11they just give you a shot and you'll be
25. 1:13all
26. 1:14right but back then it was
27. 1:17incurable and often
28. 1:20fatal was one of the worst things that
29. 1:22could happen to you during that
30. 1:26era is not only did you suffer a long
31. 1:30and painful Illness but also because it
32. 1:33was so contagious you had to be
33. 1:36quarantined you had to quarantine
34. 1:38yourself from everyone
35. 1:40else and not just for 10 or 14 days but
36. 1:43basically for the rest of your
37. 1:46life you had to live in the outskirts of
38. 1:49town
39. 1:51marginalized in deserted places and
40. 1:54complete separation from your family
41. 1:57your friends your
42. 1:58community
43. 2:01that was the original social
44. 2:04distancing it was
45. 2:06awful sometimes being alone is worse
46. 2:09than any
47. 2:11disease but that sets the stage for the
48. 2:14gospel for
49. 2:15today in which we see a
50. 2:18leper the leper sees Jesus entering a
51. 2:22town and he approaches
52. 2:25him this was a bold
53. 2:28move a bold move on the on the part of
54. 2:32this man to draw near
55. 2:34Jesus perhaps even violating the law of
56. 2:37Moses but somehow he knew about Jesus
57. 2:40and needed to get to
58. 2:44him he had nothing else he had nothing
59. 2:46more to lose so he goes to Jesus and he
60. 2:51kneels down in supplication asking for
61. 2:55healing his request itself was a
62. 2:58demonstration of Faith was an act of
63. 3:02faith if you wish you can make me clean
64. 3:06he says that's a statement of
65. 3:10faith he had complete confidence in the
66. 3:13Lord's healing
67. 3:15power and as we have seen many times in
68. 3:19the gospel and we will see this
69. 3:21particularly emphasized in the gospel of
70. 3:24Mark this year Jesus is moved by
71. 3:28demonstrations of faith
72. 3:32this is one of my favorite aspects from
73. 3:34the gospel of Mark such a great lesson
74. 3:37for all of
75. 3:39us Jesus is filled with pity and
76. 3:42compassion for those who suffer and for
77. 3:45those who show
78. 3:47faith it always moves him to
79. 3:51action and that's what we're seeing
80. 3:54here Jesus touched him in the act of
81. 3:57healing the
82. 3:58man
83. 4:00it was an outrageous and Unthinkable
84. 4:03thing to do to touch a
85. 4:07leper no one would ever do
86. 4:11that because Jesus is not worried or
87. 4:13scandalized by this man's suffering
88. 4:16Jesus saw through the
89. 4:18stting through the
90. 4:20wounds and he saw a man a child of God
91. 4:24in
92. 4:25need and he saw a man of Faith asking to
93. 4:29be healed heed and he healed
94. 4:33them to understand how awful this
95. 4:36disease was is to understand the
96. 4:39magnitude of what Jesus did in healing
97. 4:44him the man was not only cured of a
98. 4:47terrible disease but now he could go
99. 4:49back to his
100. 4:51family he could go back to his
101. 4:54community he could go to work and
102. 4:56support himself and support his family
103. 5:00and
104. 5:03something huge is that he could go and
105. 5:06return to the worshiping Community again
106. 5:10taking his place in the
107. 5:12assembly praising
108. 5:15God oh in one more
109. 5:19detail you heard in the gospel as word
110. 5:22of his healing spread
111. 5:25everywhere Jesus could no longer openly
112. 5:29and enter a town lest he me Mo
113. 5:34mobbed he had to remain on the outskirts
114. 5:36in deserted places the gospel tells us
115. 5:40do you see what
116. 5:42happened he traded places with the
117. 5:46leper the leper could not could now
118. 5:49enter the town
119. 5:50freely but Jesus had to remain
120. 5:54outside it foreshadows another moment
121. 5:57when Jesus will trade places with a
122. 5:59someone else later in the
123. 6:01gospel if you recall he would later take
124. 6:04the place of barabus on Good
125. 6:07Friday and of course in a broader sense
126. 6:10he's Trading Places with all of us on
127. 6:13that
128. 6:16day this leads us to something I said at
129. 6:18the
130. 6:19beginning that leprosy today is used as
131. 6:22a metaphor as an image of something
132. 6:27else leprosy is a metaphor for
133. 6:31sin and the lesson today is that just as
134. 6:34Jesus healed this man of leprosy and its
135. 6:37consequences so too will he heal us from
136. 6:41our sins and
137. 6:44consequences just like leprosy sin
138. 6:47causes
139. 6:49separation sin causes separation not in
140. 6:52a physical separation but a separation
141. 6:56from God and the
142. 6:58church
143. 7:00the graphic and horrible effects of
144. 7:03leprosy on the body reflect the effects
145. 7:05of sin on the
146. 7:08soul to be cast out of one's Community
147. 7:11because of leprosy recalls the horror of
148. 7:15being cast out of the kingdom of God
149. 7:17because of
150. 7:20sin in the midst of this pable state the
151. 7:24Soul befouled by sin approaches
152. 7:27Christ and with the similar confidence
153. 7:30in his ability to heal he begs to be
154. 7:34cleansed the desire to leave the
155. 7:36outskirts and to return back into the
156. 7:39fold of the community reflects the
157. 7:42Sinners repentance and desire to return
158. 7:45back to God and to the
159. 7:48church and that Faith moved Jesus into
160. 7:52action he sees through the
161. 7:54stench he sees past the wounds of sin
162. 7:58and SE sees our
163. 8:01faith touching us and healing the soul
164. 8:04through forgiveness of
165. 8:07sins this metaphor teaches us an
166. 8:09important lesson let not the sinner
167. 8:12despair of his state but repent and seek
168. 8:16the Lord's
169. 8:17Mercy for he is compassionate and takes
170. 8:20pity on those who seek his forgiveness
171. 8:22with a sincere
172. 8:24heart it's a simple but powerful lesson
173. 8:27that we have this Sunday
174. 8:30day lent begins this
175. 8:33Wednesday Ash Wednesday's on February
176. 8:3514th and as we've done in the past years
177. 8:38we will be offering special confession
178. 8:41times during
179. 8:42Lent especially if it's been a while I
180. 8:46encourage you to come and make a good
181. 8:50confession it's a good thing for
182. 8:53everyone because the truth is we are all
183. 8:56spiritual
184. 8:58lepers separated from God by our sins in
185. 9:01our need of his Mercy we may have small
186. 9:05sins we may have mediumsized sins we may
187. 9:07have very large sins but those sins
188. 9:10create wounds and
189. 9:12stench and only Jesus can heal
190. 9:16that so during Lent in a particular way
191. 9:19we Echo the words of the leper from
192. 9:21today's
193. 9:22Gospel and with faith and repentant
194. 9:25Hearts we call out to Jesus Lord if you
195. 9:28wish it you can make me
196. 9:31clean we do so with confidence because
197. 9:35we want to hear Jesus's word says I do
198. 9:38will it be made
199. 9:41clean
200. 9:45amen