homily notes: sixth sunday of ordinary time

[This weekend is World Marriage Day and our diocese sent out some great notes on this weekend's readings, so I used those as my starting point.]


This weekend we celebrate World Marriage Day and, as it's not a specifically liturgical feast day, our readings are just the normal ones for the 6th Sunday of ordinary time. In that, they remind us of the readings we've been hearing - Jesus healing someone.


But today's healing holds a special significance.


In the first reading, we hear what the Law of the Old Testament says about leprosy. Now, leprosy was a horrible, disfiguring skin disease but the physical effects were only part of the suffering someone would endure.
Because of the fear of the disease spreading, someone with leprosy was excluded from the community.
They were sent away and had to announce their presence whenever they came near anyone else.
Not only were they separated from their family and community, but they were excluded from the people's worship of God.


Knowing the Law helps us to understand what happens when Jesus meets this man with leprosy.


The fact that the leper approaches Jesus says a lot. He comes to him for healing and assumes that Jesus can do it.
Jesus also does something surprising: he touches this man. That reveals not only his compassion, but his absolute authority over the disease.
After he heals him, Jesus sends him to the priest, according to the Law. You see, this is more than just a physical healing - for this man, he is now able to rejoin his community, his family, and rejoin the worship of the people of Israel.


All of Jesus' headings have a higher purpose like this. He wants to restore the communion between a person and God, and with other people.


And that's how we get back to how this all relates to World Marriage Day.


On Tuesday, our society will celebrate the feast of St. Valentine - yes, he is a saint - and I imagine that most people don't know anything about him. But people will give gifts and go on dates ... and there is nothing wrong with that in itself! But when we focus on our culture's idea of love, we can lose sight of what God tells us and shows us that love truly is.


In his healing of the man with leprosy, Jesus shows that God desires communion. He is building a family made up of himself and those who will accept his love - and the invitation is open to each one of us.


A married couple is an image of that kind of love.


They give themselves to each other as a gift - a complete gift. That's what wedding vows mean, and it's also why the Church is so insistent about the laws about marriage. Marriage is not just a contract between two people who happen to like each other, it's a covenant in which these two people say before God and his Church that they will offer their lives, completely, to one another.


They are called, in their relationship, to image the self-giving love of Christ who laid down his life for us.


This gift, this little seed of God's love in the world, is a sacrament. Their relationship shows the world that real communion is possible.


By their love, they can show God's healing in the world - the healing that brings us back into communion with God. That's why we fight for marriage, defend it and cherish it.


Through it, we see a glimpse of how much our God loves us.