JESUS WANTS TO ...6TH SUNDAY OTB

POINTING TO THE SAVIOUR OF THE WORLD

Friends in Christ,

We were not born to be isolated from others. We need close connections with loved ones, family, and friends – And we will suffer if we are cut off. Isolation can lead to loneliness, leading to anxiety and depression and general mental decline.

The readings this Sunday talk to us about faith, and about love.

In the Gospel, the leper who was isolated, cut off from his family, possibly depresed, anxious and lonely, showed great faith that Jesus could heal him, and the great love of Jesus for this man moved Jesus to go against mosaic law to touch and to heal him.

As the First Reading makes clear, the scaly skin condition was not just another physical ailment. The colouring and condition of the skin reminded people of death and so was subject to a taboo that caused people, irrationally, to treat a person with the condition as a social outcast.

When we read the Scriptures, we are reminded over and over again how much God loves us. As God’s children baptized into the Body of Christ, Let us allow this knowledge to sink into our hearts and change us. Let us root everything we do in faith so that all of our actions point to God and to building his kingdom. How do we do this?

It’s hard to say it much better than Paul does in his letter to the Corinthians today: “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.” Give it a try: Love as Jesus loves.