I don’t know about you, but I remember hearing about “leprosy” when I was in grade school at St. John the Evangelist in Syracuse. The sisters told us about Father Damien and Sister Marianne Cope ofm ( a Franciscan Sister from Syracuse, NY!!!) and how they ministered to the people with leprosy on the island of Molokai in Hawaii. As I remember it, leprosy was presented as a terrible disfiguring disease, one that made it hard to even look at a leper. Today we refer to this disease as Hansen’s disease and there are medications that can prevent and greatly alleviate the effects of the disease. It is inspiring to think about the dedication of Father Damien and Sister Marianne (now a canonized saint!). I think of them in the same way as Mother Teresa who absolutely gave herself to the dying people in the streets of Calcutta. She didn’t care if the person was dirty, smelly, covered in sores, or deranged. She looked at each person and saw the face of Jesus. What a gift!!! In today’s Gospel passage, a leper approached Jesus and asked for healing. Jesus didn’t send him away or treat him any differently than an important person. Jesus looked at every person with love and compassion (the translation in this weekend’s Gospel uses the word “pity,” but I much prefer the word compassion). Jesus heals this leper, freeing him from both the disease of leprosy and from the unjust and inhuman social isolation and ostracism to which the lepers were subjected. What a lesson for us all. We can tend to shun people that are “different” from ourselves…I guess we think that their differentness makes them less important than we are! Think about this!!! Jesus calls every one of us to tear down the walls that separate us from each other and to welcome the “outcasts and the untouchables” of society. For each of us, these might include homosexuals, AIDS victims, alcoholics, drug addicts and other, marginalized groups such as unmarried, single mothers, migrant workers and the mentally ill. God's loving hand must reach out to them through us. Jesus wants us to touch their lives. Have you created barriers that separate “these people” from you? God calls each of us to reach out WITH COMPASSION and welcome the “outcasts” in our society. Today’s scripture lessons teach us that the sick and the maimed are, for us, not to be objects of scorn, but people in need of God's mercy…through us! St. Francis of Assisi, for instance, understood this. At one time in his life, he had a terrible fear of lepers. Then one day when he was out for a walk, he heard the warning bell that lepers were required to ring in the Middle Ages. When a leper emerged from a clump of trees, St. Francis saw that he was horribly disfigured. Half of his nose had been eaten away; his hands were stubs without fingers and his lips were oozing white pus. Instead of giving in to his fears, Francis ran forward, embraced the leper and kissed him. Francis’ life was never the same after that episode. He had found a new relationship with God, a new sensitivity to others, and a new energy for his ministry. GOSPEL QUESTION OF THE WEEK: Are you up to joining me (Sister Kate) at the next Damien Dinner to sit and eat with the guests??