The Touch

Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was a four- year-old child, whose next-door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman’s yard, climbed onto his lap and just sat there. When his mother asked him what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, “Nothing, I just helped him cry.”

A similar story of compassion weaves through the encounter of the leper and Jesus. Leprosy was not just a dreaded health problem; it was also a dreaded social disease. Tortured by years of suffering and disfigurement and confronted by an early death, lepers were also ostracized by Jewish law. The Jews believed that God himself had laid down the harsh conditions of a leper’s lot. They were all considered persistent sinners.

The Leper holds to a dream. Would Jesus value this man who had to cover his mouth with a hand and shout out a warning of his “unclean” condition? Would the Lord come close to him? “Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, ‘I do choose. Be made clean!’” At that moment the leper returned from death – from hopeless isolation, bankrupt self-esteem, and devastating physical pain.

Today let’s remember who waits to touch us – regardless of our spiritual shortcomings and physical burdens. Our Lord walks next to us with his embracing compassion. Let us show our gratitude by receiving His mercy; let us be Christ to the disguised lepers who need us to draw close. Maybe there might even be someone who simply needs our permission to cry. Kathleen M. Sullivan ’82MA ’87PhD