DEAD MEN WALK

I am not referring to the horror film of years gone by n the forties. It is true that in the days of Jesus, dead men used to walk the countryside. No miracle was involved. It was the culture of the Jewish people to consider the lepers, the blind, the poor and barren women as ‘dead people’ That is what we have in this Gospel Text. But before explaining the messages found in the Word of God, we have to consider some relevant questions.

Why ten lepers, not less or more? How is it that there were nine lepers, who were Jews … and an odd one out who was a Samaritan? So, after all, did the Jews mix with Samaritans? Why has Christ not heal them right away, as He had done on other occasions? Why according to Mark did Christ touch the leper’s hand? Why did they address Christ as one group?

All these questions, and others, are hinted at in Luke’s version of next Sunday’s Gospel. As we have said, according to Jewish customs and belief, these lepers were considered ‘dead persons’ or we could say a ‘living corpse’. It was their belief that all sickness or disease was a punishment by God. This belief was so deeply ingrained in their character that even certain rabbis, on seeing a leper used to shout at him and even throw stones at him. These miserable creatures used to avoid getting close to other people, even their own family. They lived mostly in cemetries and caves. The healing of a leper was considered as if a man had resurrected from the dead.

For this reason they stopped at a distance and shouted out to Christ to have mercy on ‘them’. Note that they did not expect to be healed, maybe they were asking for alms and compassion. But the ten of them did as they were instructed. But why did Christ not heal them right away? To test their ‘faith;, that could be true. But does not the ‘way, the journey’ to the priests resemble, is a symbol, of our earthly sojourn, with all its ups and downs?

We have noticed that the lepers spoke as one, even though there was a Samaritan in their midst. If a Jew wanted to insult another Jew, he would call him ‘a Samaritan’, yet they were together. Because in life when sickness or disasters strike we all drop the barriers that divide us. When we feel healthy, strong, on top of the world, we create barriers against each other. It is spiritually healthy to remember that we are all ‘lepers’, we need each other, we need solidarity, we belong to a community. Salvation is NOT a personal business, because the Lord will ask me; ‘Where is your brother?’ (Cain and Abel).

Luke mentions ten lepers, but ten has a symbolic value, referring to ‘totality’ So they represented the whole of humanity. We all need Christ’s healing, only Christ can heal leprosy. Who is righteous, and therefore can condemn others? Stand up to be counted. Only the proud, the evil will dare stand up, salvation is not built on our merits. We are eternally indebted to Christ. According to Mark, when Christ healed a leper HE touched his hands, HE became impure, to purify the leper. He took our iniquities on Him What a beautiful, noble thought!

They called Him from a distance. We cannot touch Him, speak to Him, how I wish I lived in the days of Jesus. But Christ has solved that problem when He instituted the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. If you believe, you do receive Him, you touch Him, you can become one with Him … and He hears you always, even from a distance. It is not the distance that can impede our prayers of arriving to Him.

Christ did not lament for not being thanked; the biggest ‘Thank You’ we can give or say to Christ is to keep spreading His Word and be a faithful witness of His teachings. Thereby we become His brothers, His sisters … and His Mother.