It's a terrible thing to experience being avoided by people. If it is because of some perceived contagious disease, the pain of being excluded by people is perhaps more painful than the physical illness itself.
When Jesus heals the leper in this Sunday's Gospel, Jesus instructs him to show himself to the priests so that they may give him a "clean bill of health" and officially reinstate him to the community. This is because a sick man, more so a leper, is considered unclean and is not to join the community.
Jesus, then, not only heals the physical pain of the leper, but also the psycho-emotional pain involved in his being excluded from the community. Jesus' healing restores him not just to physical wholeness but into the community as well. Hence, Jesus heals not just one aspect of our life, but all the other areas of our life that need to be touched by His grace. May we allow Him to fully restore us to health...totally, fully, lovingly.
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