For others, for the marginalised and for God!
February 14, 2021: 6th Sunday in Ordinary TimeLeviticus 13: 1-2, 44-46; 1 Corinthians 10:31- 11:1; Mark 1: 40-45
Certainly you have heard of this anecdote shared about a lay missionary, a doctor by profession who passed through a village once. He stayed with the people, treated them for their sicknesses, dealt with them with compassion and after a while he moved on to the next village. The wonderful memories of that doctor never left the minds of that village. After a couple of decades a missionary preacher came to the same village. He began talking to the people in the village squares and market places. All that he asked them was: "Do you know Jesus?" Many said, 'No' and moved away. One old man stopped and asked him: "alright, tell me what kind of a man is that Jesus you are enquiring about!" The missionary was indeed waiting for that question. He began: Oh, he is kind, he is loving, he is compassionate, he is caring, he deals with the sick with such love...he was intending to go on, but that old man stopped him. "Now, if that is the man you are talking about, we know him! He passed by our village some 20 years back!"
We are called to reflect on living our life Christ like, for a second consecutive week! The message is same as last week: to live like Christ. And the readings today highlight three attributes to a life that could be Christ-like, taking the cues from Christ's life.
Christ lived for Others: Today the atmosphere would be filled with red vibes, as many frenetically celebrate the valentines day! How many messages about love - defining what it is, describing how great it is, demonstrating how much one is immersed in it. Love does not need so many commentaries. It can just be understood in that simple classical definition: love is wishing the good of the other. Placing the other before myself, genuinely interested in the other's well being...that is love.
Christ was love personified. He lived his life for others, entirely. He had no comforts, no protection, nothing that was his own. He was candid in telling those who wished to follow him, that it meant to own nothing, not even a place to rest one's head, if they were to follow him. Living totally for others, for the people of God, is the essence of a life that is Christ-like! Are we prepared? Or are we, even in the so-called service to the others, seeking our own name and fame, and glory and gain?
Christ lived for the Marginalised: Pope Francis has a concrete, unavoidable point to make, when he repeats : Go to the periphery! He invites us to live life Christ-like. Today's first reading tells us where the persons with leprosy lived: ostracised, in the peripheries, in the obscurity of humanity. If they were able to come to Jesus, it actually means Jesus went to those peripheries, those margins of the society. Jesus was often found in zone which were not meant to be traversed by a Jew like him, a teacher like him and a man with such following like him.
Jesus reached out to those in need, those in agony, those in the periphery. It is easy to love people who deserve our love; it is easy to love people who will love us in return; but it is Christian to love everyone, even those from whom we will receive nothing, not even the recognition of our love in return. Are we prepared? Or are we in the name of love, looking for our own pleasure and satisfaction, warm feeling and sense of being accepted and affirmed? Is our love truly reaching out, to those who really need it?
Christ lived for God: When a reporter commented to Mother Teresa, looking at the dirtiest tasks that she was involved in, like washing the wounds and wiping the puss: 'Mother, even if they gave me a million dollars I would not be able to do this!', the Saint of Kolkata seemed to have responded: 'Even for a couple of those million dollars, I would not do this. I do this for the Christ whom I see in these faces'. Whether you eat or drink, do everything for the glory of God, invites St. Paul.
Christ did all that he did, said all that he said, was all that he was, because it was God's will for him. "My food is to do the will of the One who has sent me!' he declared. He lived it till the end - not my will but yours be done, O Father. That is the lesson for us too - to live our lives for God, in keeping with God's will, constantly striving to know what is God's will for us and dedicating ourselves to it, despite the inconveniences and discomforts - because we are convinced that we are called to live for God. Are we prepared? Or are we looking to make our life as comfortable as possible, giving into compromises of all sorts?
Living life Christ-like, is challenging indeed. But if we strive with all our heart, sincerely and humbly, we too will be able to tell the world as did St. Paul: Be imitators of me as I am of Christ! (1 Cor 11:1). Will I ever grow to that level?