Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched him, and said to him, “I do will it. Be made clean” (Mk 1:41). Jesus felt compassion when he heard the plea of the leper. He went out from himself and did the unthinkable and touched the leper. Jesus saw not a leper but a brother. Jesus met the person before him and in an act of love gave him what he had not experienced in who knows how long, human touch.
When is the last time we have been moved with pity, with compassion, to suffer with and feel the pain of another? In so many ways we are like the leper, starving for love and affection. Too many of us are living a life of isolation and aloneness. We are starving to be heard, to be acknowledged, to be touched, to be loved. So it is no wonder anxiety disorders, addiction, and unhealthy practices are on the rise.
Jesus knows and has experienced the loneliness we all feel in our hearts. He feels our distance and hunger. He seeks to draw close to us as he did with his brother the leper. The Son of God entered our human condition and encountered us to experience the fullness of our brokenness as well as help us to see the promise of our potential, the fullness of who we really can be. Jesus encountered people, he did not see them as other. He seeks to encounter us, to draw close, to touch and us to heal us.
May we follow the lead of Jesus and make an effort today to see each other as brothers and sisters. No matter who we come across may we not avert our eye but catch an eye and smile. In that simple act we acknowledge to that person that they do exist. Offer a hand shake or hug of embrace. As social beings we long to be touched. In our hyper sexualized culture, we need to be models of chaste expressions of love. Let us also resist talking at or over each other, seeking to fix each other, and instead be present to each other in our pain, be willing to accompany each other through our struggles. Seek to forgive someone we may have been holding a grudge and ask for forgiveness from someone we have hurt. In these simple ways we can begin to encounter one another again, to draw close as Jesus did, to heal and build up the wounded Body of Christ.
Photo: CN students: Compassion in Action!
Link for the Mass readings for Sunday, February 10, 2018:
Spiritual Stepping Stones 