SEE WHAT JESUS SAW, DO WHAT HE DID
(Our Lady of Lourdes-World Day of the Sick)
Lev 13: 1-2, 44-46 ;1 Cor 10: 31-11:1; Mk 1:40-45
Fr. Nelson Lobo OFM cap
Introduction: What type of feeling do we experience when we hear horrible news. The New Testament has a Greek word for that feeling; it is “Splagchna.” It literally means bowels or guts, but it is translated “Compassion.” The only person that this word is associated with is Jesus. It says that Jesus felt this way when He encountered the sick (Mt 14:14), the blind (Mt 20:34), the demon possessed (Mk 9:22), those who lost loved ones (Lk 7:13), the hungry (Mt 15:32) the lonely (Mk 1:41) and the bewildered (Mt 9:36). Our word “Compassion” comes from two Latin words (com & pati); literally means “suffering with” others. Latin compassio is an ecclesiastical translation of Greek sympatheia
HOW TO CULTIVATE COMPASSION?
- See People with Jesus’ Eyes (see what He saw)-Mat 9:36- When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 1 Sam 16:7 “The lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
- Touch the hurting people (feel what He felt)- Mark 1:40-42-The amazing part of this healing is how Jesus did it – Jesus TOUCHED him! Even if he had not been healed physically, this would have begun to heal him emotionally. Physically leprosy patients don’t feel pain, but they suffer as much as anyone. Almost all the pain they feel comes from the outside, the pain of rejection imposed on them by their own community. They are rejected because they are contagious. Their body is rotting. They stink. They are deformed. So, they are forced to live outside the community. They must keep a six-foot distance from anyone – even their spouse and children. They knew great loneliness. Mother Teresa has said, “We have drugs for people with diseases like leprosy. But these drugs do not treat the main problem, the disease of being unwanted. That’s what my sisters hope to provide. The sick and poor suffer even more from rejection than material want. Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty.”
- Serve Jesus by Serving those in Need (do what He did)-Mat 25:40 “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’” Consider the leper fully covered in leprosy. His body rotting, numb and incurable. Yet this leper’s scars ran far deeper than his debilitating disease. Suffered from the scars of a lost identity. (Now just a leper). Suffered from the scars of a destroyed dignity. (torn clothes). Suffered from the scars of repulsion. (All he touched was defiled). Suffered from the scars of isolation. (No home).
Conclusion: Jesus is not afraid to touch our scars. On some level we all can relate to the pain they have experienced. We too have been victims of the cruelty of mankind. Our hearts can become leprous as this man. When our inner scars eat away at us. When our inner scars leave us numb and unfeeling. When our inner scars make us someone we’re not. When our inner scars push us to isolation. We all need the touch of Jesus to heal us. Jesus wants to heal the hurts that others could never heal. Maybe it’s the scars of old wound that you never got over. Maybe it’s the scars of insecurity with roots in your childhood. Maybe it’s the scars of past sins that you can’t seem to forgive yourself for. Maybe it’s the scars of sin that you never dealt with. Let’s go to Jesus for our healing and be wholesome once again. Jesus loves us. He feels compassion towards us. He wants to heal us and make us whole. Amen!
