Jesus is the one who welcomes the outcasts home. We pray on the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time for those who bring healing and comfort to the sick, but we also think about the ministry that we share in Christ, to provide inner healing for all those who are exiled because of "a scab or pustule or blotch" which others might find offensive.
Leviticus 13:1-2, 44-46. The rules for dealing with someone marked by leprosy are, in fact, rules for protecting the community from the spread of disease. Since there was, until the twentieth century, no way to treat this disease or to prevent its spread, the only option the community had was to exile the person until all signs of the disease disappeared.
Psalm of the Day: Ps (31) 32:1-2, 5, 11
One of the traditional penitential psalms, this wisdom text treats sin as a disease—like leprosy—whose effects can only be taken away by the mercy of God.
1 Corinthians 10:33–11:1. The model for Christian behavior: Let the glory of God shine through your every action, especially through your care for each other.
Mark 1:40-45. Since people believed that only God could heal leprosy, Jesus' healing of the man who comes to him is a sign of the presence of divine power and the reign of God. Jesus tells the person who has been healed to observe the requirements listed in the first reading, so that he can be officially restored to the community, but the man has a somewhat different agenda.
- CCM Opening: Lord Reign In Me (see sheet)
- MPB Opening: Taste and see [CC27]
- Pslam: Ps 32: I Turn To You ( see sheet )
- Offertory Only In God [CC430]
- Com1 You are mine [CC435]
- Com2 Christians, Let Us Love One Another [CC446]
- Closing Be Glorified (see sheet)
- Postlude Grace Like Rain (see sheet)
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