Competing Contagions
Jesus heals a leper
Announcements for February 13, 2021:
Take a look at our Lenten activities. Check out www.olmc.church/lent today.
We're sticking to our sacramental schedule this week:
Inside Masses: Saturday at 5:15 and 7:00pm (Spanish); Sunday at 7:30, 9:00, and 11:00am.
Outside Mass: Sunday at 9:00am (Walmart).
Confessions: Take place inside after the 8:00am Saturday Mass (8:30-9:30am) and before the 5:15pm Saturday Mass (4:00-5:00pm).
All of our announcements are now online. Keep tabs on that page for all up-to-date information.
Please be in touch with me if you need anything at all, or if you'd like to share any questions or concerns.
Dear Saints,
Last weekend, we saw Jesus take Galilee by storm. Advanced by Jesus' teaching and healing, the rule of God confronts and overcomes the disfiguring rule of sin and death.
How true that is of this weekend's Gospel passage.
When a leper throws himself down at Jesus' feet, we're right to be concerned. Contamination would put an early end to whatever Jesus has got going. Contracting the disease would likely cost Jesus and his followers their lives. The risk is almost too serious to consider.
When he reaches out and touches the leper we might think that Jesus is throwing caution to the wind, but that's not quite right. Rather, Jesus knows the danger he's facing down, but as God's for-the-otherness in the flesh he is compelled to stretch out his hand.
Jesus is not rendered unclean by the encounter, but he's not therefore in the clear. This dramatic healing will prove costly when the wrong people get word of it, but he's willing to pay the penalty.
We, likewise, have been bought back from destruction at a price and made agents of God's merciful rule. It's ours to speed the viral spread of his love to every corner of creation.
In the battle between competing contagions, the victory belongs to Divine Love. Sin and death be damned!
I love you, my friends. I look forward to seeing you very soon.
Christ's Peace,
Father Daniel
δοῦλος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ
PPS Check out the scene from this weekend's Gospel in The Chosen.
Jesus Heals the Leper
The Chosen
Preparing for Mass?
Check out this weekend's readings:
Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Jesus Cleanses the Leper
Monreale, Sicily: 12th century