Just four days ago, we began this great and humbling season of Lent: our annual pilgrimageas it wereof 40 days, through which we will strive to draw closer and closer to the Lord of life.  If this is the case, where is He today that we might find Him?  In the desert…being tested and tempted…and remaining faithful always to the Father.  Christ’s faithfulness is unending…thanks be to God!

Well, then, where are weHis disciplesto go?

On Ash Wednesday, we were covered in ashes; we accepted a seal which marked the renewal of the covenant between us and the Savior.  We chose that we should return to the dust from which we came, in order that we might rise to a new and glorious life in Christ.  Yes, sealed in dust, the covenant between us and Godthat was once made at our baptismwas furthered, continued, solidified and strengthened.  We were reminded of our promise to “believe in the gospel”.

And what does this gospel share with us?

In our first reading, God established through Noah a great and eternal covenant.  Repeating His promise five different times, the Lord solemnly swore that He would always be our God, no matter what!  And in love, our Godaccording to the letter of St. Peter heard in our second readingsends us His Son, that He might suffer for our own, many and particular sins, so that He might lead us always back to God and to authentic Love.  Going even so far as to descend into the depths of hell and the realm of the dead, Christ longs to prove to usyet again and alwaysthat God is ever-faithful to His covenant, ever-true to His promise of love.

So as we enter deeply into this season of Lent; this season of temptation, of dread, of suffering, of torment, of purification, please trust, my dear brothers and sisters, that Christ has been thereand remains in those places…to draw us up, to hold us fast, to encourage us lovingly, and to raise us up again…to the glory of God the Father.

Be not afraid in these 40 days:

• even in darkness, Christ is our Light;
• even in sorrow, Christ is our Joy;
• even in suffering, Christ is our Consolation and our Hope.

God bless you throughout this holy season.

Our first reading outlines the Old Testament’s strict legal requirements for those suffering from skin diseases such as leprosy.  Seen as ritually impure, highly contagious—a threat to the rest of the communitythey were to present themselves to the priests who would declare them unclean and they would be cast out from the community, the town, removed from relationships with all others…they would, in a sense, be totally banished and isolated.

And so our gospel is filled with surprise:

• first, a leper approaches Jesus, threatening in one sense to make the master Himself ritually impure, as well as physically unclean/dirty/infected;
• The leper surprises us as he declares that he knows Jesus can heal him, restore his health and livelihood, bring him back into communion with all people, the Church…Jesus can give the man his life back.

And, not surprising to us, Jesus does just that.  We hear him instruct the one He has restored to quietly show himself and offer to God according to Moses’ decree…yet the man does not.  Filled with rejoicing, we can understand why he is exuberant, can’t we?

Imagine if you were set outside of communion with God and with all others for a period of time that is not only extensive but also indeterminate, that is to say, beyond your ability to correct or limit or control.  Imagine, to put it bluntly, being an illegal immigrant.  Or imagine being a despised ‘prostitute of ancient times’, or a hated minority or outcast.  Yes, aren’t these conditions akin to the leper of our gospel?

St. Paul, in our second reading, encourages us to bealong with himimitators of Christ Jesus.  And so let us welcome all others as Christ does, disregarding difference/dis-ease/and accepting them as Christ accepts us.  Thank the good Lord that all are welcome to come to Him, be touched and healed by Him, welcomed into the circle of love by Him!