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Ritual cleansing and Christ’s healing ministry

Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B), Leviticus 13:1-2, 44-46. (Lectionary 077, Feb. 12, 2006)

Leviticus is the liturgical book of the Old Testament. It gives regulations for proper worship and offers direction for the holiness of the nation and for individual, personal holiness. The basic principles that are set forth in Leviticus have their origin in Moses and in the first years of God’s special relationship with Israel at Mount Sinai.

But the book that has come down to us in the Pentateuch has been enriched during the centuries when Israel was ruled by kings and still more during the period after the Babylonian exile. Given its technical nature and the fact that the liturgical life prescribed in this book is no longer exercised, it is not surprising that Leviticus is used only twice in our three year Sunday cycle of readings.

Chapters 11 through 14 of Leviticus have to do with ritual uncleanness. Chapters 13 and 14 deal particularly with the uncleanness that comes from leprosy. There are, therefore, two points at issue in our reading from chapter 13: ritual uncleanness in general and the Israelites’ medical response to the disease of leprosy.

Ritual uncleanness was a kind of religious pollution that resulted from a disruption of the divine order that God had put into the world. It generally involved mixing things together that belonged apart. Thus, for example, shellfish are unclean because they live in the ocean but crawl like land animals. Lepers were ritually unclean because they had two colors of skin. These seemingly unnatural combinations were seen as indications of the presence of evil, and so could have no part with the God of creation. Ritually unclean people were excluded from participating in the communal worship of the nation because they were not worthy to approach the divine. They were also excluded from ordinary social contact with other Israelites because of the evil that afflicted them.

But there is also a medical or hygienic dimension to uncleanness, at least the uncleanness associated with leprosy. The leprosy that Leviticus deals with seems to include various kinds of skin blemishes. It is not the same thing that we call leprosy today. These diseases were thought to be somehow contagious, and so people who suffered from them were to be quarantined to prevent the spread of the disease. They were not to have contact with other people.
In this Sunday’s first reading, we learn how leprosy was to be identified and some of the social strictures that accompanied it. Those with skin blemishes of any kind were to present themselves to the priest. The priest would determine whether the sores constituted leprosy. This was a religious decision, not a medical one.

In the second paragraph of our reading, we learn how the leper was to conduct himself. His torn garments and bare head would indicate that he was a person in distress. He was to shield his upper lip so that his breath would not contaminate others. He was to announce his state of uncleanness so that others would not come near him. He was not to be allowed to live with the community.

This reading provides the background for this Sunday’s gospel (Mark 1:40-45) in which we see Jesus healing a leper. This poor outcast presented himself to Jesus and Jesus did the unthinkable. He touched him! Jesus voluntarily made contact with this unclean person, and, by His touch, made him clean again. The man’s burden is lifted and, once he has taken care of the religious formalities, he can rejoin human society.

It is interesting to note the repetition of words in the two readings. In the Old Testament reading we hear over and over again the word "unclean." In the narrative about Jesus, the repeated word is just the opposite: "clean."
The lesson that Jesus’ action offers us is that nobody is so unclean, nobody is such an outcast that Jesus will not bother with them. Even a person who inspired horror in most of Jesus’ contemporaries, the leper, religiously unclean and potentially contagious, condemned to spend his life in solitude least others might become like him through contact with him - even this man qualifies for the compassion of Jesus.

The first chapters of the Gospel of Mark, which we read during the Year B, address the mystery of Jesus. They respond to the question, "Who is this man?" In this Sunday’s reading we learn that this man is one whose care for the outcast knows no limits, one to whom the ordinary ritual constraints do not apply.

For Reflection and Discussion.

Who are the "unclean" people in our society?

Where/how does Jesus exercise His healing mission today?



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	*Overtures* Reflection on the first readings of the Sunday liturgy By Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk Ritual cleansing and Christ’s healing ministry Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B), Leviticus 13:1-2, 44-46. (Lectionary 077, Feb. 12, 2006) Leviticus is the liturgical book of the Old Testament. It gives regulations for proper worship and offers direction for the holiness of the nation and for individual, personal holiness. The basic principles that are set forth in Leviticus have their origin in Moses and in the first years of God’s special relationship with Israel at Mount Sinai. But the book that has come down to us in the Pentateuch has been enriched during the centuries when Israel was ruled by kings and still more during the period after the Babylonian exile. Given its technical nature and the fact that the liturgical life prescribed in this book is no longer exercised, it is not surprising that Leviticus is used only twice in our three year Sunday cycle of readings. Chapters 11 through 14 of Leviticus have to do with ritual uncleanness. Chapters 13 and 14 deal particularly with the uncleanness that comes from leprosy. There are, therefore, two points at issue in our reading from chapter 13: ritual uncleanness in general and the Israelites’ medical response to the disease of leprosy. Ritual uncleanness was a kind of religious pollution that resulted from a disruption of the divine order that God had put into the world. It generally involved mixing things together that belonged apart. Thus, for example, shellfish are unclean because they live in the ocean but crawl like land animals. Lepers were ritually unclean because they had two colors of skin. These seemingly unnatural combinations were seen as indications of the presence of evil, and so could have no part with the God of creation. Ritually unclean people were excluded from participating in the communal worship of the nation because they were not worthy to approach the divine. They were also excluded from ordinary social contact with other Israelites because of the evil that afflicted them. But there is also a medical or hygienic dimension to uncleanness, at least the uncleanness associated with leprosy. The leprosy that Leviticus deals with seems to include various kinds of skin blemishes. It is not the same thing that we call leprosy today. These diseases were thought to be somehow contagious, and so people who suffered from them were to be quarantined to prevent the spread of the disease. They were not to have contact with other people. In this Sunday’s first reading, we learn how leprosy was to be identified and some of the social strictures that accompanied it. Those with skin blemishes of any kind were to present themselves to the priest. The priest would determine whether the sores constituted leprosy. This was a religious decision, not a medical one. In the second paragraph of our reading, we learn how the leper was to conduct himself. His torn garments and bare head would indicate that he was a person in distress. He was to shield his upper lip so that his breath would not contaminate others. He was to announce his state of uncleanness so that others would not come near him. He was not to be allowed to live with the community. This reading provides the background for this Sunday’s gospel (Mark 1:40-45) in which we see Jesus healing a leper. This poor outcast presented himself to Jesus and Jesus did the unthinkable. He touched him! Jesus voluntarily made contact with this unclean person, and, by His touch, made him clean again. The man’s burden is lifted and, once he has taken care of the religious formalities, he can rejoin human society. It is interesting to note the repetition of words in the two readings. In the Old Testament reading we hear over and over again the word "unclean." In the narrative about Jesus, the repeated word is just the opposite: "clean." The lesson that Jesus’ action offers us is that nobody is so unclean, nobody is such an outcast that Jesus will not bother with them. Even a person who inspired horror in most of Jesus’ contemporaries, the leper, religiously unclean and potentially contagious, condemned to spend his life in solitude least others might become like him through contact with him - even this man qualifies for the compassion of Jesus. The first chapters of the Gospel of Mark, which we read during the Year B, address the mystery of Jesus. They respond to the question, "Who is this man?" In this Sunday’s reading we learn that this man is one whose care for the outcast knows no limits, one to whom the ordinary ritual constraints do not apply. For Reflection and Discussion.** Who are the "unclean" people in our society? Where/how does Jesus exercise His healing mission today?

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