Spiritual Leprosy
Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
“I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble, and you fill me with the joy of salvation.”Ps. 32
Leprosy causes insensitivity, they don’t feel the temperature. We can also apply this to the insensitivity of the soul, when it feels no love or compassion for others, when it doesn’t matter to be a burden to others, when it’s so bad that they no longer feel the warmth and love of others, and don’t care what they think or feel.
But there is another equally peculiar feature, the lepers were isolated so as not to infect. They were removed from the community. This is also the case for many sick souls without the Holy Spirit: they isolate themselves, they do not want to approach anyone, they take refuge in their caves or bedrooms, and more in our generation of mass media, they let themselves be caught by the nets and cut off real contact with others.
Today it makes more sense than ever the phrase of “leaving their nets, they followed him”. Today we would also have to leave the social networks that paradoxically isolate us, lock us up, take us away from others, getting entangled like a fly in a spider net. They take us away from the people around us, we deprive them of us, we give time to others, who we don’t even know who they are.
One loses that sensitivity to want to be a blessing and love, to love and give, to feel sorry for each other, when one is in the blindness of selfish disorder, he lives in the flesh and not in the Spirit. He does not want to be cured of his blindness or leprosy, he loves his sin, he does not want to leave it.
The ego does not want changes, it is in its comfort zone, in its routines, it does not want to be uninstalled or strive to change, even if it is to grow. As the saying goes: better known bad than good not yet known. And he stays with what is known, even if it is bad, because learning and changing costs, and since the great result is unknown, then it is not valued nor wants to strive for it.
“But the natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolish to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are things that are discerned spiritually.”1 Corinthians 2.14
Thus, the man who lives in the flesh does not want to leave the leprosy of his sin, he is attached to it; like the man of bound hands, to which they convinced that this was better, for he could not do the bad things of those who had hands free. He doesn’t want to leave his attachments, like the junkie or the alcoholic; nor can he, for he needs outside help, as we could not leave sin for ourselves, we need God’s help. Only He gives us back our sight to see, and IF WE EXPERIENCE HIS HEALING ACTION, we will need to love others out of gratitude to Him, as he wants as to have.
Weekly Readings
Sunday: Lv 13:1-2, 44-46/Ps 32: 1-2, 5, 11 (7)/1 Cor 10:31—11:1/Mk 1:40-45
Monday: Jas 1:1-11/Ps 119:67, 68, 71, 72, 75, 76/Mk 8:11-13
Tuesday: Jas 1:12-18/Ps 94:12-13a, 14-15, 18-19/Mk 8:14-21
Wednesday: J1 2:12-18/2 Cor 5:20-6:2/Ps 51:3-4, 5-6ab, 12-13, 14 and 17/Mt 6:1-6, 16-18
Thursday: Dt 30:15-20/Ps 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6/Lk 9:22-25
Friday: Is 58:1-9a/Ps 51:3-4, 5-6ab, 18-19/Mt 9:14-15
Saturday: Is 58:9b-14/Ps 86:1-2, 3-4, 5-6/Lk 5:27-32
Next Sunday: Gn 9:8-15/Ps 25:4-5, 6-7, 8-9 (see 10)/1 Pt 3:18-22/Mk 1:12-15
Observances for the Week
Sunday: 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time, World Marriage Day
Wednesday: Ash Wednesday; Valentine’s Day
Saturday: The Seven Holy Founders of the Servite Order
Next Sunday: 1st Sunday of Lent