Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 77
Is-Sitt Ħadd taż-Żmien ta’ Matul is-Sena
Reading 1 - Leviticus 13:1-2, 44-46
The Lord said to Moses
and Aaron, "If someone has on his skin a scab or pustule or blotch
which appears to be the sore of leprosy,
he shall be brought to Aaron, the priest, or to one of the priests among his
descendants. If the man is leprous and unclean, the priest shall declare him
unclean by reason of the sore on his head. "The one who bears the sore of
leprosy shall keep his garments rent and his head bare, and shall muffle his
beard; he shall cry out, 'Unclean, unclean!' As long as the sore is on him he
shall declare himself unclean, since he is in fact unclean. He shall dwell
apart, making his abode outside the camp." This is the Word of The Lord.
Qari I
- mill-Ktieb tal-Levitiku 13, 1-2.45-46
Il-Mulej kellem lil Mosè u lil Aron u qalilhom:
“Meta xi ħadd ikollu fil-ġilda xi qxur jew xi bużżieqa, jew xi tebgħa bajda,
qisha ġerħa tal-ġdiem, jeħduh għand Aron il-qassis, jew għand xi ħadd minn
Responsorial Psalm
- PSALM 32:1-2, 5, 11
Blessed is he whose fault is taken away,
whose sin is covered.
Blessed the man to whom the LORD imputes not guilt,
in whose spirit there is no guile.
R. I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble, and you fill me with the joy of salvation.
whose sin is covered.
Blessed the man to whom the LORD imputes not guilt,
in whose spirit there is no guile.
R. I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble, and you fill me with the joy of salvation.
Then I acknowledged my sin to you,
my guilt I covered not.
I said, "I confess my faults to the LORD,"
and you took away the guilt of my sin.
R. I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble, and you fill me with the joy of salvation.
my guilt I covered not.
I said, "I confess my faults to the LORD,"
and you took away the guilt of my sin.
R. I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble, and you fill me with the joy of salvation.
Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you just;
exult, all you upright of heart.
R. I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble, and you fill me with the joy of salvation.
exult, all you upright of heart.
R. I turn to you, Lord, in time of trouble, and you fill me with the joy of salvation.
Salm Responsorjali - Salm 31 (32), 1-2.5.11
R/ :
Int kenn għalija, iddawwarni u tferraħni bil-ħelsien tiegħek
Hieni l-bniedem li ħtijietu maħfura,
li għandu d-dnub tiegħu mistur!
Hieni l-bniedem li ebda ħażen ma jgħoddlu
l-Mulej,
u ma għandu ebda qerq f’qalbu! R/.
Id-dnub tiegħi jien stqarrejtlek,
u l-ħażen tiegħi ma ħbejtulekx.
Jien għedt: “Quddiem il-Mulej nistqarr
ħtijieti”.
U int ħfirtli l-ħażen tad-dnub tiegħi. R/.
Ifirħu, twajbin, u thennew fil-Mulej;
għajtu bil-ferħ, intom ilkoll ta’ qalbkom safja. R/.
Reading
2 -
1 Corinthians 10:31—11:1
Brothers and sisters,
Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of
God. Avoid giving offense, whether to the Jews or Greeks or the church of God, just as I try to
please everyone in every way, not seeking my own benefit but that of the many,
that they may be saved. Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. This is the Word of The Lord
Qari II - mill-Ewwel
Ittra lill-Korintin 10, 3-11,1
Ħuti, sew jekk tieklu, sew jekk tixorbu,
tagħmlu x’tagħmlu, agħmlu kollox għall-glorja ta’ Alla. Tkunux ta’ tfixkil, la
għal-Lhud, la għall-Griegi, u lanqas għall-Knisja ta’ Alla. Hekk jiena nogħġob
lil kulħadd f’kollox, bla ma nfittex l-interessi tiegħi, imma tal-ħafna biex
isalvaw. Ixbhu lili, bħalma jien nixbah lil Kristu. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej .
Gospel - Mark 1:40-45
A leper came to Jesus and kneeling down begged him and said,
"If you wish, you can make me clean." Moved with pity, he stretched
out his hand, touched him, and
said to him, "I do will it.
Be made clean." The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean.
Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once. He said to him, "See that you
tell no one anything, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what
Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them." The man went away and
began to publicize the whole matter. He spread the report abroad so that it was
impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly. He remained outside in deserted
places, and people kept coming to him from everywhere. This is the Word of The Lord.
Evanġelju - Qari
mill-Evanġelju skont San Mark
1, 40-45
F’dak iż-żmien, resaq fuq Ġesù wieħed lebbruż jitolbu bil-ħerqa,
inxteħet għarkupptejh quddiemu u qallu: “Jekk trid, tista’ tfejjaqni!”. Imqanqal mill-ħniena, Ġesù medd idu fuqu, messu u qallu: “Irrid,
kun imnaddaf!”. U minnufih il-lebbra marritlu u ġismu ndaf. U widdbu bis-sħiħ,
bagħtu malajr u qallu: “Qis li ma tgħid xejn lil ħadd; iżda mur uri ruħek
lill-qassis, u agħmel offerta għall-fejqan tiegħek kif ordna Mosè, biex
tkunilhom ta’ xhieda”. Iżda dak, meta telaq, beda jxandar ma’ kullimkien u
jxerred l-aħbar, hekk li Ġesù f’ebda belt ma sata’ iżjed jidħol bid-dieher,
imma kien jibqa’ barra fil-kampanja u kienu jmorru ħdejh nies minn
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Let Us Not Fear the Sepulchres of
This Earth
A commentary b y Fr. Thomas Rosica,
CSB
The first reading for this Sunday outlines the harsh laws for people
with skin diseases usually labeled correctly or incorrectly as a form of
leprosy (Leviticus 13:1-2; 44-46).
Throughout history, few diseases have been as dreaded as the horrible
affliction known as leprosy. It was so common and severe among ancient peoples
that God gave Moses extensive instructions to deal with it as evidenced in
chapters 13 and 14 from Leviticus. The belief that only God could heal leprosy
is key to understanding Sunday's miracle that proves Jesus' identity.
Leprosy in the Bible appears in two principle forms. Both start with
discoloration of a patch of skin. The disease becomes systemic and involves the
internal organs as well as the skin. Marked deformity of the hands and feet
occur when the tissues between the bones deteriorate and disappear.
In Jesus' time, lepers were forced to exist outside the community,
separated from family and friends and thus deprived of the experience of any
form of human interaction. We read in Leviticus 13:45-46 that lepers were to wear
torn clothes, let their hair be disheveled, and live outside the camp. These
homeless individuals were to cry "Unclean, unclean!" when a person
without leprosy approached them. Lepers suffered both the disease and ostracism
from society. In the end, both realities destroy their victims' lives. One may
indeed wonder which was worse: the social ostracism experienced or the
devastating skin lesions.
Mark 1:40 tells us that the leper appears abruptly in front of Jesus:
"begging him and kneeling before him." The news about Jesus'
miraculous powers has gotten around, even to the reviled and outcast leper.
"If you choose, you can make me clean," the leper tells Jesus. In
even approaching Jesus, the leper has violated the Levitical code. By saying,
"If you choose, you can make me clean," the leper not only indicates
his absolute faith in Jesus' ability to cleanse him of his disease, but also
actually challenges Jesus to act. In the ancient Mediterranean world, touching
a leper was a radical act. By touching the reviled outcast, Jesus openly defied
Levitical law. Only a priest could declare that someone was cured of the skin
disease. As required by ancient law, Jesus sent the man to a priest for
verification. Even though Jesus asked him not to, the man went about telling
everyone of this great miracle.
My encounter with lepers
I had never encountered leprosy until I was pursuing my graduate studies
in Scripture in the Holy Land . In 1992, I was
invited by the Religious Sisters of the Sacred Heart to come down to Egypt from
Jerusalem and spend several weeks teaching and preaching Scripture -- first in
Cairo, then down (or up!) the Nile River into Upper Egypt. We visited many of
the very poor Christian villages where the sisters and other religious worked
among the poorest of the poor. That journey remains engraved in my memory, for
the remarkable women religious encountered along the way, and for the horrible
human situations of suffering that we witnessed.
When we arrived in one of the Egyptian villages along the Nile , one of the sisters took me outside the central part
of town, to an area where lepers and severely handicapped people were kept, in
chains, in underground areas hidden away from civilization. It was like
entering tombs of the living dead. Their lot was worse than animals. The stench
was overpowering, the misery shocking, the suffering incredible.
I descended into several hovels, blessed the people with my best Arabic
and said some prayers with each person. The sister accompanying me said:
"Simply touch them. You have no idea what the touch means, when they are
kept as animals and monsters."
I laid hands on many of these women and men and touched their disfigured
faces and bodies. Tears streamed down my face as the women and men and several
children shrieked at first then wept openly. They reached out to hug and
embrace me. Then we all shared bottles of Coca Cola! Those unforgettable days,
deep in the heart of Egypt
As we read the story of Jesus among the outcasts, let us recall with
gratitude the lives of three remarkable people in our Catholic tradition who
worked with lepers and dared to touch and embrace those who were afflicted with
that debilitating disease. First, Saint Joseph DeVeuster, (known as Father
Damien of Molokai) born in Belgium Hawaiian Islands . After nine years of
priestly work, he obtained permission to labour among the abandoned lepers on Molokai . He descended into the lepers' colony of Molokai -- then considered "the cemetery and hell of
the living" -- and from the first sermon embraced all those unfortunate
people saying simply: "We lepers." And to the first sick person who
said, "Be careful, Father, you might get my disease" he replied,
"I am my own, if the sickness takes my body away God will give me another
one." Becoming a leper himself in 1885, he died in 1889, a victim of his
charity for others. In 2009, he was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI.
Second, Saint Sister Marianne Cope (1838–1918), mother to Molokai lepers. In the 1880s, as superior of her
congregation of the Sisters of St. Francis in Syracuse ,
she responded to a call to assist with the care of lepers on the island of Molokai Peninsula of Kalaupapa Polynesian Islands
Be not afraid
Finally, let us recall with gratitude Saint Teresa of Calcutta
"The fullness of
our heart becomes visible in our actions: how I behave with this leper, how I
behave with this dying person, how I behave with this homeless person.
Sometimes, it is more difficult to work with down-and-outs than with the people
who are dying in our hospices, for the latter are at peace, waiting to go to God
soon.
"You can draw
near to the sick person, to the leper, and be convinced that you are touching
the body of Christ. But when it is a drunk person yelling, it is more difficult
to think that you are face-to-face with Jesus hidden in him. How pure and loving
must our hands be in order to show compassion for those beings!
"To see Jesus in
the spiritually most deprived person requires a pure heart. The more disfigured
the image of God is in a person, the greater must our faith and our veneration
be in our search for the face of Jesus and in our ministry of love for
him."
Most people will never encounter lepers. Nor will we know what it means
to be completely ostracized by society. But there are other forms of leprosy
today, which destroy human beings, kill their hope and spirit, and isolate them
from society. Who are the modern lepers in our lives, suffering with physical
diseases that stigmatize, isolate and shun, and cut others off from the land of
the living? What are the social conditions today that force people to become
the living dead, relegating them to cemeteries and dungeons of profound
indignity, poverty, despair, isolation, violence, sadness, depression,
homelessness, addiction and mental illness?
Let us not fear the sepulchers of this earth. Let us enter those hovels
and bring a word of consolation and a gesture of healing to others. In the
words of Saint Teresa of Calcutta
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