6th Sunday Ordinary Time February 11, 2024

Readings: Leviticus 13:1-2, 44-46, 1 Corinthians 10:31—11:1, Mark 1:40-45

The first reading today is from the Book of Leviticus, which is one of the early books of Hebrew Scripture, one of the early books of our Christian Bible.  Chapters 12 to 15 deal with various illnesses and why some illnesses require the person to live apart, primarily in order not to infect others.  We can well imagine, however, that if a person were able to hid some kind of infection, they would do so in order to avoid expulsion from the community.

The second reading is from the First Letter to the Corinthians.  The strong teaching in this small except is that we should try to avoid giving offense to others and should try to please everyone.  That is a tall order but we can understand that Christians are called to love everyone and to serve everyone and to put one’s own needs behind the needs of others.  This could sound like a commandment just to be nice.  Instead Saint Paul thinks of it as a way to bring salvation to others.  We are all missionaries and must think about how we can draw others to Christ Jesus.

The Gospel from Mark today brings us back to leprosy.  The leper proclaims to everyone that he has been cured by Jesus.Sin is seen in the early Church as a form of moral leprosy.  We are invited by Jesus to become clean in baptism.  The early Church had a huge struggle to come to understand how anyone baptized could return to sin.  But sin is like leprosy and returns over and over until there is a completely cure.  The cure for spiritual leprosy is faith in Jesus Christ.

Today on this Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time, we can ask ourselves:  Do I really want to be free of sin?  Am I willing to call out to the Lord and ask the Lord to heal me?  Am I willing to proclaim the glory of God?

 Fr. Terry.