Today=s readings offer us a
valuable lesson concerning the appropriate attitude of the believer toward the
outcast.
Unfortunately,
some outcasts seem to invite our mistrust and desire for avoidance.
Homeless
persons, for example, sometimes have an air of desperation about them because the lack of a
valid address deprives them of so many other rights and opportunities.
With
no address, they cannot receive mail, apply for jobs, receive financial aid, etc.
Without
an address, they have relatively little access to baths and washing machines,
and as a result are sometimes unkempt and smelly.
With
so many struggles to bear, the homeless may resort to acts of desperation or
exhibit attitudes that are unwelcome.
So
it becomes easy for us to justify distancing ourselves from such people and
their problems.
Other
outcasts may find themselves in that predicament due to illness.
DiseaseCin particular, serious
diseaseCis frightening in that
it is not entirely understood.
Even
more frightening are those diseases and conditions for which there is no known
cure.
While
leprosy may be generally controlled in today=s world, other diseases like HIV or AIDS are not,
and those who suffer from these suffer doubly.
Those
whose sexual orientation has been judged to be abnormal or sinful also struggle
against attitudes that run the gamut from anger to loathing to condemnation.
Although
the official church teaching states that Athose persons who have
deep-seated homosexual tendencies must be accepted with respect, compassion and
sensitivity@ and advises that Aevery sign of unjust
discrimination in their regard should be avoided@[1], this policy is rarely
reflected in the actions and attitudes of Christians.
Given the frequency with
which certain members of our human family are treated as Aoutcasts,@ what has today=s Word to say to us?
Even the most careful
reader will not detect any hesitation on the part of Jesus or Elisha to reach
out to the outcasts (in this case, the lepers) of their day.
There is not even a
whisper of judgment in these narratives;
there is only kindness,
caring and a proactive concern that challenges us to similar kindness and
compassionate caring.
To do otherwise is to
betray who we are as believers and to betray the One in whom we believe.
Although he may not have
intended his words to be so applied, the author of 2 Timothy speaks a relevant
truth to us in today=s second reading.
Jesus has chosen to
identify with the outcasts of society;
therefore, when we reach
out to the homeless, to homosexuals, to the divorced and to the victims of
dreaded diseases, we are, in effect, reaching out to Jesus.
But it also follows that
if we deny these, we deny Jesus and place ourselves in a position to be denied
by him.
Therefore, let us
resolve to reach out, as did Jesus, with care and compassion to all those in
whom Jesus still begs to be discovered and loved.
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