Pro-life
Preaching Hints
October 10 - Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
2 Kgs 5:14-17
2 Tm 2:8-13
Lk 17:11-19
Life was
difficult for lepers in the time of Jesus, not simply because of
their disease, but because they were ostracized. Leviticus
13:45-46 tells us that lepers were to wear torn clothes, let
their hair be disheveled, and live outside the camp. They were
to cry "Unclean, unclean!" when a person without leprosy
approached them. As outcasts, the lepers had no right to even
speak to Jesus. Moreover, in the ancient Mediterranean world,
touching a leper was a radical act. By touching a reviled
outcast, Jesus defies the predominant culture that allowed these
human beings to be ostracized and put on a lower level of
dignity.
In Mark 1:40 we read of another encounter of a
leper with Jesus. Most English translations of the New Testament
say that Jesus was "moved with pity" when he encountered the
leper. However, the Revised English Bible says that Jesus was
"moved to anger." If Jesus was moved by anger, his anger would
not have been at the leper but rather at a system that excluded
certain people.
In His ministry, Christ consistently
sought out those whom society oppresses and rejects. He broke
down the false barriers that people set up among themselves, and
instead acknowledged the equal human dignity of every
individual, despite what common opinion might say. Hence we see
Him reach out to children despite the efforts of the apostles to
keep them away (Matthew 19:13-15); to tax collectors and sinners
despite the objections of the Scribes (Mark 2:16); to the blind
despite the warnings of the crowd (Matthew 20:29-34); to a
foreign woman despite the utter surprise of the disciples and of
the woman herself (John 4:9, 27); to Gentiles despite the anger
of the Jews (Matthew 21:41-46); and, in today’s Gospel, to the
lepers, despite their isolation from the rest of society (Luke
17:11-19).
When it comes to human dignity, Christ erases
distinctions. St. Paul declares, "There is neither Jew nor
Greek, there is neither slave or free person, there is not male
and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians
3:28).
We can likewise say, "There is neither born nor
unborn." Using this distinction as a basis for the value of life
or the protection one deserves is meaningless and offensive to
all that Scripture teaches. The unborn are the segment of our
society which is most neglected and discriminated against.
Christ Himself surely has a special love for them.Back
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