"Be imitators of me as I am of Christ"
(1 Corinthians 11: 1)
A little over a month ago we were celebrating Christmas. In fact, on February 2nd, we celebrated the feast of “The Presentation of the Lord" with a full Church and the joy of feeling that Jesus is the true light of our lives. A few days into this week we will begin the season of Lent with the celebration of Ash Wednesday.
The phrase, that gives title to this reflection, brings us to St. Paul and his first Letter to the Corinthians. For the Apostle it is important that every believer be identified with Christ. Paul tells us that “whatever we do, do all for the glory of God”. St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, took this teaching to heart from the very beginning of his conversion and he made popular the famous motto AMDG "Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam," that is, "to the greater glory of God." According to Ignatius, every Jesuit must strive for excellence in everything and in doing that each Jesuit seeks the glory of God that makes all human tasks become perfected. Pope Francis challenges us to live in what he calls "the culture of discarding." For Francis it is the task of every Christian to become other Christs while serving the poor and needy of our time. To do all for the Glory of God, according to Pope Francis, is to be closer to the broken-hearted and in doing so we become builders of his Kingdom.
Both the first reading and the Gospel speak of leprosy and those affected by this terrible disease. In the Book of Leviticus the leper is kept outside the community so as to protect everyone else from this communicable disease. But the leper in the Gospel of Mark challenges Jesus and Jesus breaks down the barrier between them. As it is true in most of Jesus´ healings, Jesus reaches out, touches him, and heals him. As we listen to today's readings, consider how we exclude others in our lives, perhaps because we feel they would make us “unclean” but at the same time we need to think about how Jesus responded to the leper. Looking at the world of the poor and the broken-hearted, we should ask ourselves if we are followers of Christ .      Fr. Hernan P., SJ