6th Ordinary Sunday (Cycle B)

Lev 13:1-2,44-46        1Cor 10:31-11:1        Mk 1:40-45

We are well aware of what happened to Mahatma Gandhi during his youthful age as a lawyer in the country of South Africa. On 7^th June 1893, while he was travelling in a train from Durban to Pretoria on a first-class ticket, a European man called the railway authorities to remove him from the coach, as Gandhi did not comply with the racial segregation rules of travel. Eventually, he was thrown out of the train. Gandhi faced social rejection for the first time, which indeed shocked him. This experience gave him the first provocation to begin his act of civil disobedience.

Rejection is the most agonizing thing a person could endure in his or her life. This rejection can come from a well-acquainted friend, from the family members, from a group of people, or at large, from the society. Whatever it is, rejection in any form is painful to anyone. The gravity of this pain depends from whom rejection emerges. If it is from the closer circle, the pain would be more. Social analysis shows that the underlying reason for suicidal attempts is the miserable experience undergone by a person due to rejection.

There are medicines to make dormant, to make passive the physical pain endured by a person. In the medical field, they are called as pain killers, pain reliever, aspirin, morphine, sedative, tranquilizer, dope, anesthetic, etc. They are available easily for money. Irrespective of the persons situation and mental health, when those medicines are applied to the human body, it works. It makes the person unconscious of the physical pain for a fixed period of time. But to soothe the mental agony endured by a person, it is not that easy. Even in a state of active moment, the mental pain makes the person restless. This restlessness may be due to the unpleasant situation encountered by the person. Mostly it occurs in an atmosphere of human relationships, misunderstandings, rejections, etc.

The leper whom we encounter in today’s gospel was one who underwent such a restlessness due to the social rejection he experienced by his own Jewish community. From what we heard from the first reading, we are able to understand the social status of a person who is affected by leprosy. The book of Leviticus 13:45-46 says: The person who has the leprous disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head be uncombed; and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, “Unclean, unclean.” He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease; he is unclean. He shall live alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp.

The leper who is the victim in today’s gospel too, as per the Jewish custom was considered unclean. More than his physical pain, it was his mental agony that made him to approach Jesus Christ to be cured and get relieved of the social rejection he was undergoing. Jesus targeted the wider recognition of that person. He targeted the uprooting of the social stigma attached to that person. Therefore, as soon as he cured him, Jesus was insistent that he should show himself to the priest to be certified that he is no more a leper, so that he could regain his social recognition and wider acceptance by others. In the Jewish society, according to the Jewish law, a priest was an icon to certify and proclaim that a leper is fully cured from leprosy. That certification was important for social recognition.

In our society too, there are people who face social rejection. They are secluded from the main face of the society. Even today we have lepers’ colony, were lepers live in seclusion without having a normal way of life like others. Moreover, we have people who are affected by the ailment of AIDS. They too, are seen with a negative stigma. There may be various reasons for having been affected by HIV+. It may be due to their negligence, carelessness or free lifestyle. Whatever may be the reason, but there is a wrong social stigma attached to these persons, that they have led an immoral, infidel life.

Also, this is the case with homosexuals. Our church is keen to point out the distinction between homosexuals who are conditioned by birth and those who engage in individual homosexual actions. Regarding those who are homosexually conditioned, they are intrinsically disordered and have no taste for a heterosexual life, and they stand not responsible for such a sexual orientation since the time of their birth. They have the difficulty to overcome that tendency in their normal lifestyle because their sexual orientation is fixed during their birth.

Our mother Church encourages the faithful to be understanding towards this kind of homosexuals but certainly does not approve of their sexual acts. In a report titled Relatio post disceptationem, which was issued during the 11^th general assembly of the synod of bishops while debating on family issues, article no.50 states: Homosexuals have gifts and qualities to offer to the Christian community: are we capable of welcoming these people, guaranteeing to them a fraternal space in our communities? Often, they wish to encounter a Church that offers them a welcoming home. Are our communities capable of providing that, accepting and valuing their sexual orientation, without compromising Catholic doctrine on the family and matrimony?

Ultimately the point is this: Are we able to provide a fraternal space for those who are seen with certain stigma in the society, whether it be a leper, an AIDS patient, a homosexual, a transgendered, etc. All these people are basically human beings. They too carry the image of God in themselves. They are not alien beings. Since the time of the Old Testament, any Jewish leper carried the stigma of being unclean, and therefore, he or she is an untouchable. Even in our country India, the evil of untouchability is obvious. There are many social reformers who fought against this social evil. Mahatma Gandhi was also one among them. Today’s gospel is an episode, where we see Jesus silently fighting against such a social evil. It is an indirect silent scream of Jesus Christ.

We need to have a check upon our perception of people, in general. Why do we brand people, why do we stamp people with certain stigma? Our social culture has created a closed mentality among many, not to disclose what they are undergoing, since a stigma is attached to what they are enduring. In our society, an AIDS patient is not able to have a normal public life like others, due to the negative perception interwoven with what he or she endures.

It is we human beings, who create a hell in this earth by our negative perceptions. This world is a beautiful and wonderful world created by God to live a happy life and to make others life happy. Everything is a matter of perception and perspective. Acceptance and rejection are just an outcome of these perceptions. Our perception and perspective design this world to be either a heaven or a hell. Let us examine and see where do our perceptions stand? What does our perceptions make this world for the other – HEAVEN or HELL?