Leviticus 13:1-2, 45-46 / 1 Cor 10:31 – 11:1 / Mark 1:40-45
We have often heard it said that “no pain, no gain”.
Whatever we make out of it, we may also want to ask if for all the gain, is it worth the pain?
Pain is defined as a highly unpleasant physical sensation caused by illness or injury, or a severe mental suffering or distress.
Whatever it is and whatever it may be, pain is something we want to avoid.
So there are such things called painkillers, and we will go for them when the pain is like killing us.
Of course painkillers can also be used for an adverse purpose.
There are some people who take an overdose of painkillers in order end their painful lives.
Having said so much about pain, what do we think is the greatest pain?
It may sound rather surprising, but the greatest pain is not to feel pain at all.
If we are wondering whether the greatest pain is not to feel pain at all, then let us think about the leper in today’s gospel.
Leprosy is a disease that results in a lack of the ability to feel pain and thus loss of parts of extremities due to repeated injuries.
So the leper does not feel physical pain but the pain increases in his heart as he is being cut off from family and society and left alone to fend for himself.
And at that time there was no cure for leprosy and so it can be termed as terminal, a slow death sentence.
It was in such a state that he came desperately to Jesus and pleaded on his knees, “If you want to, you can cure me.”
And the response from Jesus was sharp and pointed – “Of course I want to! Be cured!”
And the leper was cured! But let us also remember that when the leper was cured of his leprosy, he will begin to feel physical pain once again, just like you and me.
Generally, there are two types of pain – pain that will hurt us and pain that will change us.
We won’t usually associate pain with Hawaii. In fact we may think Hawaii as an escape from the pains of life.
But back in 1864, things were different. In the island of Molokai, there was a leper colony.
It was there that a priest, Fr. Damien, went to, and for sixteen years he cared for the physical, spiritual, and emotional needs of those in the leper colony.
Then one day after a long missionary trip, he went back and while preparing to bathe, Fr. Damien accidently put his foot into scalding water, causing his skin to blister.
But a surprise awaited him; he didn’t feel any sensation. Then it dawned upon him that he had contracted that dreaded disease – leprosy.
Certainly, not feeling any sensation and not feeling any pain would have caused a pain in his heart.
But that pain in his heart also changed him. The next day he announced that he was a leper and with that he was embraced passionately by the leper community.
He continued to serve the leper community till his death in 1889 and was canonized St. Damien in 2009.
Certainly, it was an inspiring and heroic account of a man who turned pain into gain.
As Fr. Damien wrote in one of his letters – “ ...I make myself a leper with the lepers to gain all to Jesus Christ.”
Certainly we may not be that heroic and self-sacrificing. In fact we would rather avoid pain, and even at all cost.
But not to feel pain could well be the greatest pain. In avoiding pain and not wanting to feel pain, we have become insensitive and indifferent to ourselves and to the others around us.
In other words, we could have become spiritual lepers and not feeling pain within ourselves and the pain of others.
And that brings back what the leper in today’s gospel said to Jesus – If you want to, you can cure me.
Yes, Jesus is our Saviour and our Healer. To ask Jesus to heal us and to cure us does not mean that we are asking for a pain-free life.
In fact it might just be the other way round. We are asking Jesus to heal us and cure us so that we are able to feel the pain within us and the pain that others are suffering from.
Yes, pain can hurt us, and yet pain can also change us.
Jesus went through the pain of the cross in order to save us.
The pain of the cross became the gain of salvation.
When we are able to accept the pain of our lives, then we are healed of our spiritual leprosy.
We are healed of our insensitivity and our indifference to the pain of others.
And just as Jesus reached out and touched the leper and cured him, we too will be able to reach out and give that healing touch of Jesus to others.
So, of course Jesus wants to heal us. But let us remember what we are asking for as we say to Jesus “If you want to, you can cure me”.
It may mean that we are willing to accept the pain. But it is a pain that will have tremendous gain.