6th Sunday of the Year “And he touched him.” Quarantine. Here in Central Queensland, we are familiar with the necessity of strict quarantine. The decimation of the citrus industry around Emerald is still raw in our memories. My father, one to often test the boundaries, never, ever did on quarantine laws. The risks were too high. So given our experience, we can appreciate how shocking Jesus’ actions were in this Sunday’s Gospel. The leper, who pushed the boundaries of Jewish quarantine law in approaching Jesus, would himself have been shocked when Jesus reached out and touched him. For us, this would be like someone injecting themselves with the blood of an AIDS victim to express solidarity. Jesus himself knew how people would view this: he told the healed man to tell no-one, and then ‘stayed in places where no-one lived.’ He obeyed the very quarantine laws he had broken. But what would that gesture have been like for the leper. He knew himself the outcast, he hoped for healing, but that simple gesture of love would have said so much more. By touching, Jesus showed he understood the isolation the man had suffered, and was prepared to risk himself crossing the boundaries. This action of Jesus is an example to us of how much more is needed in our charity than just the giving of goods or services. What is really more important is treating the other as a person, as one human like us. Over this coming week, when you help others, notice how you ‘come over’ to them, how you touch them with your actions. When you meet them in their isolation and pain, you will be acting like Jesus, the divine one, who not only touched our humanity but entered into our pain and isolation that we might enter into his divine life.
Sr Kym Harris OSB |